FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Middle East

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the economic circumstances of Palestinians living in the occupied territories.

Ben Bradshaw: The on-going violence and Israel's response to the second intifada—above all its policy of closures—has caused an enormous drop in incomes and living standards and a sharp drop in economic activity in the occupied territories. Levels of poverty have increased considerably from 21 per cent. at the start of the intifada, to at least 35 per cent. This means that about 1 million people exist on less than $2 per day. Unemployment is very high. Many people are just getting by thanks to savings and humanitarian aid.

Middle East

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Archbishop of Canterbury about his meetings with other faith leaders and their implications for the middle east peace process.

Ben Bradshaw: We warmly welcome the inter-faith meetings convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace and in Alexandria between 17 and 21 January. Dialogue and debate between the faiths is an essential part of mutual understanding. We particularly welcome the First Alexandria Declaration on the situation in the middle east, with its condemnation of the killing of innocents, and its call for a religiously sanctioned ceasefire and a return to negotiations.

Middle East

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current situation in the middle east.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier in the House today to the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Mr. Liddell-Grainger) at column 718W.

Serb Refugees

Robert Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efforts are being made to ensure the safe return of Serbs who were forced to flee (a) Krajina and (b) Kosovo.

Denis MacShane: The Croatian Government have committed themselves to ensuring the safe return of Serbs to their former homes in Croatia by the end of 2002. We are continuing to remind the Government of the importance of honouring this commitment.
	We strongly support the right of Kosovo Serbs who fled their homes to return in safety. Belgrade and Pristina are now co-ordinating closely on this issue. Efforts are being spearheaded by the newly established UNMIK Office of Returns and Communities.

Colombia

Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent action he has taken to support the peace process in Colombia.

Denis MacShane: The UK strongly supports the Colombian peace process, as I made clear in a press release on 23 January. We are particularly active in the EU. We have invited the Colombian presidential candidates to the UK to exchange views on the situation in Colombia, including prospects for the peace process.

Afghanistan

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what diplomatic steps he is taking to secure the safe transportation of food and the essential supplies throughout Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: The continuing provision of emergency humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people remains a key priority for the international community. To support this aim we continue to have an open dialogue with Afghanistan's neighbours, especially Pakistan, Iran and Uzbekistan, on keeping open the most important land corridors for the delivery of aid.
	We are also working with the Interim Administration, the UN and other members of the international community to ensure that the security situation in Afghanistan continues to improve so that supplies can be delivered to the most vulnerable people.

Afghanistan

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the capacity remaining for a base for international terrorism in Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: Prior to 11 September, al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan trained an estimated 10,000 extremists a year, some of whom went on to carry out international terrorist attacks. As a part of the highly successful coalition military campaign in Afghanistan, all these camps have been closed. While pockets of resistance remain, these have little opportunity to train and develop networks of terrorists.

Afghanistan

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions the Government have had with Afghan women's organisations on women's rights.

Ben Bradshaw: During her visit to London on 31 January, Dr. Sima Sumar, the Vice Chair of the Afghan Interim Administration and Minister for Women, met my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for International Development, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Secretary of State for Defence and myself. We discussed her priorities for improving the lives of women in Afghanistan and emphasised the Government's support for her work.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I met my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) and a delegation of Afghan women from the UK Women's Link with Afghan Women on 24 January to discuss their priorities for reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK Government are taking to ensure the protection of women from violence in Afghanistan, with particular reference to sexual violence.

Ben Bradshaw: The UK Government condemn all violence against women. The restoration of security and stability in Afghanistan will be an essential step towards ensuring their protection. The UK-led International Security Assistance Force is working with Afghans to establish security in and around Kabul. The establishment of trained police services will also be key. We welcome the offer by the German Government to train police in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK Government are taking to (a) recognise and (b) act on the demands of Afghan women addressed to the international community, as set out in the Brussels Proclamation of the Afghan Women's Summit in December of last year.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government believe that it is extremely important that the international community consults the women of Afghanistan themselves about their priorities. The UNIFEM Afghan Women's Summit, held in Brussels last December, marked a positive start.
	The summit was the largest global gathering of Afghan women leaders to focus on the role of women in the new post-Taliban Afghanistan. It addressed the crucial needs of all the people of Afghanistan, focusing on health care, education, refugees and human rights. We hope that the international community will support the aims of the summit declaration, calling for a greater role for women in the future decision-making process in Afghanistan.
	We welcome the pledge made by the Chair of the Afghan Interim Administration, Hamid Karzai, at the Tokyo Donors' Conference on 21 January to ensure that the needs of women are a priority in the reconstruction process. We welcome his commitment to ensure that girls get back to school.
	We also welcome the establishment of the Women's Ministry and fully support the work of Dr. Sima Samar, Vice Chair of the Interim Administration and Minister for Women. We have long said that, while the form of the Government and constitution is for the Afghan people to determine, the future Government must be broadly based and representative of all Afghans. We have encouraged the involvement of women in the Afghan Interim Administration and the Special Commission for the Convening of the Loya Jirga, established under the Bonn Agreement, and expect that women will be involved in any future Government of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK Government and the international community are taking to ensure that the interests and role of women are being acted on during the initial phase of peace-building in Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: We welcome the pledge made by the Chair of the Interim Administration, Hamid Karzai, at the Tokyo Donors' Conference that the needs of women should be a high priority in the reconstruction process. The people of Afghanistan are beginning to see real improvements in their lives. Girls are returning to school and university. Access to television and to international media will allow women to be better informed about the situation both inside their country and the wider world. Better access to health care and to education will afford women an improved standard of living.
	As women return to work, their financial situation will improve. This is especially important for all the female heads of household who were destitute when deprived of their livelihoods by the Taliban restrictions on female working. Afghanistan has more than a million war widows. NGO and UN-run projects to get women back to work will have a huge impact on the lives of many Afghan women and children. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also agreed to fund a project by a local Afghan women's NGO to help establish a quilt weaving co-operative as a means to providing a trade and an income for destitute women.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what training is funded by the UK Government for staff involved in projects working with women in Afghanistan.

Ben Bradshaw: We have given an allocation of $1 million to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) for a programme to support Afghan women's leadership through awareness raising, capacity building and gender mainstreaming as well as local level, quick impact recovery projects supporting women. We are also in discussion with the Ministry for Women on how we can provide other support activities.
	Our funding for UNIFEM will include support for gender mainstreaming within the reconstruction and peacebuilding strategies of the UN, inter-governmental bodies and regional organisations. This will involve awareness building and training initiatives.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK Government and the international community are taking to ensure that the monitoring of the reconstruction work within Afghanistan takes into account its impact on women.

Ben Bradshaw: We strongly support the common programming approach under the United Nations-led Strategic Framework for Afghanistan, which is intended to provide a principled, co-ordinated and coherent approach to programming. One of its key themes is the protection and advancement of human rights, with particular emphasis on gender issues.
	We recognise the need to build the capacity of Afghanistan's women to enable them to take full part in the reconstruction of their society, including the new Interim Administration, and to ensure that legal, constitutional and other provisions are not discriminatory against women. Our funding for support of Afghan women during the recovery and reconstruction of Afghanistan is being channelled through United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations, who will work closely with the Interim Administration and who have expressed a commitment to involving Afghan women in the design, implementation and monitoring of their strategies and programmes.
	To date this includes an allocation of $1 million to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) for a programme to support Afghan women's leadership through awareness raising, capacity building and gender mainstreaming as well as local level, quick impact recovery projects supporting women. We are also in discussion with the Ministry for Women on how we can provide other support to its activities.

St. Helena

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the island of St. Helena.

Ben Bradshaw: I know that there are a number of special events planned on St. Helena to commemorate this historic event and a successful year. We are in touch with the St. Helena Government representative in London over plans to mark the occasion in the United Kingdom.

Iran

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the President of Iran on bilateral relations.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary had a meeting with President Khatami on 25 September, when he first visited Iran. They discussed the international fight against terrorism, the situation in the region and bilateral relations.

Human Rights

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on preparations for the Geneva conference on human rights in March.

Denis MacShane: Promotion of human rights is at the heart of our foreign policy. Britain is an active and committed member of the Commission on Human Rights. We are making preparations within Whitehall, with EU partners and with NGOs. I will go to Geneva myself in March to deliver the UK speech.

Zimbabwe

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to help ensure that elections in Zimbabwe will be fair.

Denis MacShane: On 28 January the EU decided to impose targeted sanctions on senior members of the Government of Zimbabwe if the election is assessed as not being free and fair. On 30 January the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) called on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that all parties in the election be allowed to campaign freely. It called for the immediate deployment of Commonwealth election observers and the Government's full co-operation in facilitating the operation of all international observers.

Zimbabwe

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role the United States will play in finding a political solution in Zimbabwe.

Denis MacShane: The United States Government have expressed strong concern at the situation in Zimbabwe over a number of months. In addition, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act invites the US Administration to consult and co-ordinate with international partners on action against Zimbabwe. The US Administration are yet to impose sanctions but are urgently considering their next steps.

Zimbabwe

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the EU concerning imposing smart sanctions upon Zimbabwe.

Denis MacShane: On 28 January EU Ministers agreed to impose targeted sanctions on senior Members of the Government of Zimbabwe if:
	they prevent the deployment of an EU observation mission starting by 3 February 2002, or if they prevent the mission from operating effectively;
	they prevent the international media from having free access to cover the election;
	there is a serious deterioration on the ground, in terms of a worsening of the human right situation or attacks on the opposition;
	the election is assessed as not being free and fair.

Central Africa

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the Lusaka accord and moves to bring peace to the countries of central Africa.

Denis MacShane: We welcome the continued ceasefire, the withdrawal of some foreign troops from the DRC and the progress which has been made in the disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration process in the last six months. But further progress is necessary. During my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's recent visit to the Great Lakes with his French counterpart, Hubert Vedrine, he stressed the need for further progress and expressed our joint commitment to achieve this.
	His visit demonstrates clearly this Government's determination to help resolve conflict within central Africa and to bring peace and prosperity to the region. We are committed to this goal. We will continue to work closely with the EU and the UN in order to achieve it.

National Missile Defence

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the US Administration about the future of the ABM treaty.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given earlier in the House today by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) at column 715W.

Gibraltar

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations between the Governments of Spain and Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: At the Brussels process meeting held in London yesterday my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr. Pique, reiterated their invitation for the Chief Minister of Gibraltar to attend talks under the Brussels process. Building on the climate of confidence established by the Brussels process we have encouraged the Governments of Spain and Gibraltar to talk and meet.

Sierra Leone

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking within the UN to promote human rights in Sierra Leone.

Denis MacShane: The formal ending of the conflict in Sierra Leone on 18 January 2002 marked the beginning of the restoration of human rights for the long-suffering Sierra Leonean people. An important element in this process is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in which the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights is leading the way. We have funded preparatory work for the UN, to facilitate the commission, and will continue to strongly support its establishment. We have also led in the UN Security Council to secure the special court for Sierra Leone, which will bring to justice those responsible for the worst of the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during the last few years.

Sierra Leone

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to establish a special court for human rights abuses in Sierra Leone.

Denis MacShane: The UK has been at the forefront in supporting UN Security Council resolution 1315 (2000) for a special court for Sierra Leone. This institution will bring to justice those most responsible for gross human rights abuses committed during the conflict, and send a strong signal to others, wherever they are, that they will be brought to account for their actions. The agreement establishing the court was signed in Freetown on 16 January. We are contributing £6.6 million over three years towards the court's estimated budget of £40 million.

Sudan

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent peace agreement in the Sudan.

Ben Bradshaw: There has been no recent peace agreement in Sudan. However, we were delighted to hear last month that as a result of the efforts of the US special envoy, with whom we have been working closely, the parties agreed on 19 January to a limited ceasefire in the Nuba mountains. Under the terms of the agreement civilians will be allowed to move freely within the region currently held by the SPLA. There will be two demilitarised zones to allow the Nuba people to access fertile land, and humanitarian assistance will be allowed to enter the region by air. An external military commission will supervise the ceasefire, which is one small but encouraging step towards peace.

Georgia

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political situation in the Republic of Georgia.

Ben Bradshaw: Georgia continues to need help to build capacity to tackle problems it faces. Both bilaterally and multilaterally we will continue to provide appropriate assistance. HMG continue strongly to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. We encourage a constructive relationship between Georgia and Russia.

British Detainees (Guantanamo Bay)

Martin Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 623, what action he is taking to ensure that the suspected al-Qaeda prisoners being held by the United States are being treated humanely and in accordance with international law.

Ben Bradshaw: We are in close contact with the US as the detaining power. During my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's visit to Washington on 31 January and 1 February, he again made it clear that detainees should be treated humanely and in accordance with international norms.

British Detainees (Guantanamo Bay)

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request that the report of the ICRC into conditions at Camp X-Ray be made available to the British Government.

Denis MacShane: In order to preserve the impartiality and neutrality which enable it to pursue its humanitarian work, the ICRC never releases its reports to third parties. Its report on conditions at Camp X-Ray will accordingly be made confidentially to the United States as detaining power.

British Detainees (Guantanamo Bay)

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the International Committee of the Red Cross has had access to detainees held at centres other than Bagram and Kabul.

Denis MacShane: Yes.

Kashmir

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Pakistani Government about terrorism in Kashmir.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited Pakistan on 22–23 November when he had extensive discussions with President Musharraf and other interlocutors on a range of issues including terrorism. Since then, he has spoken to his Pakistani counterpart about terrorism and other issues.

Kashmir

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government about human rights in Kashmir.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary recently discussed the issue of human rights in Kashmir with Mr. Jaswant Singh, the Indian Foreign Minister, during his meeting on 29 January. We will continue to raise our concerns over human rights in Kashmir with the Government of India.

EU Constitution

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with European Union Ministers on introducing a new constitutional settlement for the European Union.

Peter Hain: The Laeken European Council in December 2001, at which the Secretary of State was present, agreed to set up a Convention on the Future of Europe to prepare the next intergovernmental conference in 2004. The convention will hold its inaugural meeting on 28 February 2002 and will include in its membership the representatives of the Heads of State or Government of the member states. The Minister for Europe has been appointed to represent the Government. The convention will produce options to the Heads of Government or State.
	The convention will consider the issues laid out in the Laeken Declaration. One of the headings is: Towards a Constitution for European Citizens.

Visas

George Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of refusals for overseas visitors visas have been overturned by appeal by post since October 2000.

Ben Bradshaw: We do not maintain information centrally on the number of family visit applications refused entry clearance, which are subsequently overturned on appeal.
	We do record the number of family visit appeals dispatched for those posts which complete a monthly statistical return. These posts generate 98 per cent. of total applications (110 posts in 2001).
	Between October 2000 and December 2001 4,564 family visit appeals were dispatched by entry clearance managers.
	The Lord Chancellor's Department has provided the following details of appeals upheld in cases for which they hold data.
	From 1 October 2000 to 31 December 2001, the number of successful visit visa appeals decided on the papers alone was:
	904 appeals allowed by adjudicators, and
	86 appeals allowed by Tribunals.
	In the same period, the number of successful visit visa appeals decided at an oral hearing was:
	1,424 appeals upheld by adjudicators, and
	five appeals upheld by Tribunals.
	Based on these figures 53 per cent. of appeals were in favour of the applicant. But there is no automatic correlation between the number of appeals dispatched and the number of appeals upheld. The time difference between appeals being dispatched and hearings held makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Neither do we have information on appeals withdrawn after dispatch.

Visas

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints have been received regarding applications for student visas by students from (a) China, (b) Russia, (c) Turkey, (d) Korea and (e) Latin American countries since 1997; how many applications from these countries have been turned down in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: I regret that the information requested by the hon. Member is not available; complaints are not recorded by subject matter.
	The statistics for the number of student applications refused are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of applications Refusal rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 China   
			 1997 1,380 41 
			 1998 1,782 24 
			 1999 2,561 21 
			 2000 4,484 23 
			 2001(1) 1,063 29 
			
			 Russia   
			 1997 1,360 15 
			 1998 847 8 
			 1999 65 2 
			 2000 448 9 
			 2001(1) 43 9 
			
			 Turkey   
			 1997 567 4 
			 1998 679 5 
			 1999 527 6 
			 2000 608 9 
			 2001(1) 147 16 
			
			 Korea   
			 1997 5 17 
			 1998 6 21 
			 1999 2 10 
			 2000 6 15 
			 2001(1) 0 0 
			
			 Latin America   
			 1997 49 4 
			 1998 113 8 
			 1999 383 9 
			 2000 1,490 16 
			 2001(1) 224 18 
		
	
	(1) The figures for 2001 are for January to March 2001. We collect these statistics only on an annual basis.

Visas

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many persons from (a) the Czech Republic and (b) Turkey have been refused entry to the United Kingdom at ports of entry in each month since 1 January 2000.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Statistics on nationals of the Czech Republic and Turkey refused entry to the United Kingdom and removed in each month during 2000 are given in the table. This is the latest available information. Data for 2001 are due to be published in the summer this year.
	
		Passengers refused leave to enter and removed, by selected nationality, January to December 2000
		
			  Czech Republic(2) Turkey 
		
		
			 January 127 29 
			 February 147 35 
			 March 103 27 
			 April 206 24 
			 May 265 11 
			 June 267 15 
			 July 337 37 
			 August 349 37 
			 September 326 19 
			 October 170 23 
			 November 223 20 
			 December 263 22 
			  
			 Total 2,783 299 
		
	
	(2) Include Czechoslovak passport holders

Southern Rhodesia Act

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what power HM Government retain to make orders under section 3(1)(b)(i) of the Southern Rhodesia Act 1979.

Ben Bradshaw: The power to make orders still appears in the Southern Rhodesia Act 1979. Other powers were later repealed but the section 3 powers were not. It would technically be possible to make an order, but it would have to relate to unconstitutional action that had taken place in Southern Rhodesia before independence.

Angola

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the supplementary report of the monitoring mechanism on Sanctions against UNITA appointed, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1295 (2001), paragraph 3, in relation to the situation in Angola.

Denis MacShane: We welcome the supplementary report of the monitoring mechanism. We believe the report accurately highlights the continuing destabilising impact of UNITA in Angola. It describes the problem of the ongoing flow of arms to UNITA, albeit at a reduced level and contains detailed evidence of the role of sanctions buster, Victor Bout, in supplying arms to UNITA.
	We are working in the UN Angola Sanctions Committee to ensure that all breaches of sanctions detailed in the report are appropriately followed up. We believe the monitoring mechanism has an important role to play in ensuring the targeted sanctions against UNITA are fully implemented and enforced and fully support Security Council resolution 1374 (2001) of 19 October 2001, extending the mechanism's mandate for a further six months.

Civil Servants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 581W, which senior management structure positions are held by non-career civil servants; when the terms of their appointment end; and whether either has been promoted during their current employment in his Department.

Ben Bradshaw: Two senior management structure positions are held by non-career civil servants: The Chief Economist and High Commissioner Canberra.
	The Chief Economist contract runs from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2002. The appointment carries the possibility of extension or permanency. The High Commissioner Canberra contract runs from 1 October 1999 to 31 October 2001, with an option for extension by one year to 31 October 2002 and a further option after that for a final extension to 31 October 2003.
	Neither has been promoted during their time with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Business Ambassadors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many new business ambassadors he has appointed since 7 June 2001; and if he will list them.

Ben Bradshaw: No appointments to the Ambassadors for British Business scheme have been made since that date.

Ministerial Visits

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Argentina.

Jack Straw: Plans for a visit to Latin America are kept under review.

Ministerial Visits

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for further joint visits with EU foreign secretaries.

Jack Straw: I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda with Hubert Védrine on 21–23 January. There are no confirmed plans at present for further joint visits with any of my EU colleagues but I am happy to undertake such visits when opportunities arise, subject to other commitments.

Ministerial Visits

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit other countries when he attends the CHOGM Conference in Brisbane.

Jack Straw: I am looking at a number of options. No decisions have yet been taken.

Turkey

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the principal obstacles are to the opening of Turkey's accession negotiations to join the EU.

Jack Straw: As with all candidates for EU membership, Turkey can only start accession negotiations once it has met the Copenhagen political criteria (relating to democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and minorities). Turkey has begun to make progress against the EU Accession Partnership which sets out priorities for reform. But it is important that Turkey picks up the pace of reform, notably with regard to human rights.

British Foreign Policy

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the aims and objectives of British foreign policy.

Jack Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's current Departmental report (Cm 5110) and website (at www.fco.gov.uk) which details the aims and objectives of British foreign policy.

British Overseas Territories [Lords] Bill

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to issue new passports once the British Overseas Territories [Lords] Bill is enacted.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Thamesmead (John Austin) on 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 583W.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1272(2002) adopted on 24 January, what recent representations the UK Government have made to the Government of Azerbaijan to secure the release or retrial of political prisoners.

Ben Bradshaw: Our Ambassador in Baku called on the Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission on 25 January to discuss the issue of political prisoners. Prior to the Council of Europe resolution, the Ambassador also discussed the issue with Ilham Aliev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe delegation.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations it has made to the Government of Azerbaijan concerning the conscription into the military of Fazil Gazanfaroglu, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front in Azerbaijan.

Ben Bradshaw: No representation has been made about Fazil's military service. Neither he nor his party has approached us about this or asked us to intervene. Fazil has said he is ready to serve his country.

Azerbaijan

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Azerbaijan concerning allegations that local authority permission is needed before representatives of the Azerbaijani Institute of Peace and Democracy can meet local NGOs outwith Baku.

Ben Bradshaw: Our ambassador in Baku raised this issue on Monday 4 February at a meeting at the President's office. He was told that no such regulation preventing such meetings existed; that prior permission was not needed but that for security reasons local authorities should be informed; and that Lenkoran, the area involved, was a sensitive area due to previous separatist activity.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT Free Television Licences

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many over 75-year-old pensioners in Shrewsbury and Atcham have received free television licences.

Kim Howells: TV Licensing, which administers the free television licence scheme for the BBC as Licensing Authority, is not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, estimates based on the 1991 Census indicate that there were approximately 6,500 people aged 75 or over in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

Gambling Review Body

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Mr. Pickthall) of 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 620W, when she expects to announce her conclusions to her consideration of the report of the Gambling Review Body.

Richard Caborn: We hope to be able to announce our conclusions within the next few months.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the members of the viewers panel established to advise the Government on the consumers' view on digital switchover who have ceased their membership of the panel, indicating the reasons for the cessation.

Kim Howells: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Organisations invited to nominate panel members  Nominated members Changes to membership Reason given (if any) 
		
		
			 National Council for One Parent Families Natasha Benenson   
			 Comunn na Gaidhlig Allan Campbell   
			 Royal National Institute for the Blind Denise Evans   
			 Action with Communities in Rural England Les Roberts Replaced by Carole Garfield Left ACRE 
			 National Consumer Council Alison Hopkins   
			 Royal National Institute for the Deaf Stephen Iliffe   
			 Age Concern Gretel Jones   
			 National Council for Voluntary Youth Services Cara MacDowell Replaced by Rebecca Leete  
			 National Family and Parenting Institute Dean Mahoney   
			 Voice of the Listener and Viewer Vincent Porter   
			 Disability Rights Commission Alun Thomas   
			 National Pensioners' Convention Roger Turner   
			 Welsh Language Board John Walter Jones   
			 Consumers' Association Adam Scorer Replaced by Allan Williams  
			 VCC(3) Wales Michael Clarke   
			 VCC Yorkshire Ruth Clarke   
			 VCC North East Anthony Gaw   
			 VCC West Karen Gough   
			 VCC East Denise Hitchcock   
			 VCC South West Tony Poole   
			 VCC Midlands Peter Quinn   
			 VCC South Janice Roberts   
			 VCC North West Keith Roberts   
			 VCC Northern Ireland Alison Scott   
			 VCC Scotland Carol Ann McDowell   
			 BBC Regional Broadcasting Council (RBC) Wales Sue Balsom   
			 RBC Scotland John Gerrie   
			 BBC Regional Advisory Council for South East Nancy Elliott Replaced by Richard Mais Died 
			 Low Pay Unit Bharti Patel Resigned Work commitments 
			 RBC Northern Ireland Brenda McLaughlin Resigned Work commitments 
			 VCC London Cynthia Yearwood Resigned Work commitments 
		
	
	(3) ITC Viewer Consultative Council

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 6 December 2001, Official Report, column 501W, what advice has the Government given to the BBC and ITC in their consideration of how to improve the coverage of DTT multiplexes across the United Kingdom.

Kim Howells: The Government have provided general guidance to the BBC and to the Independent Television Commission on priorities in planning the use of currently unused spectrum for transmitting terrestrial television services. This guidance was last reviewed in 1997. We published on 11 December 2001 a consultation paper inviting views on the basis on which we should plan the use of the spectrum currently used for analogue television broadcasting once analogue transmissions cease. The closing date for responses is 12 March 2002.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for South Suffolk, of 25 January 2002, Official Report, column 1113W, on analogue switchoff, if she will list (a) the names of the individuals and the Departments and organisations they represent who are conducting the comprehensive review of progress towards digital switchover, (b) the terms of reference of the review, (c) the dates on which meetings of the individuals conducting the review have been held and (d) the date on which the first review is expected to be sent to Ministers.

Kim Howells: The review will be taken forward by officials from my Department and from the DTI who are working on the digital television action plan project, with input from the individual task groups established under the action plan. A first report from the action plan project is due by 31 March 2002.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) integrated digital and (b) analogue television sets have been bought by her Department in each of the last 24 months; and if she will publish the guidance given to officials making decisions on television purchases.

Kim Howells: The Department has not purchased any television sets in the past 24 months. We do not have any specific guidance on the purchase of television sets, but any such purchase would be subject to normal Government procurement rules. These rules are produced and published by the Office of Government Commerce.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what dates the viewers panel established to advise the Government on the consumers' view on digital switchover has met; and how many panel members attended each meeting.

Kim Howells: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Date of meeting Number of members attending(4) 
		
		
			 27 November 2000 20 
			 26 March 2001 18 
			 22 June 2001 19 
			 27 September 2001 21 
		
	
	(4) This does not include DCMS officials who provided a chairperson and secretariat for the panel's meetings.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the television without frontiers directive.

Kim Howells: Directive 89/552/EEC as amended by 97/36/EC "the television without frontiers directive" came fully into effect in the UK with regulations made under SI 2000 No. 54 on 19 January 2000. The Commission, as required under Articles 4(4) and 25a, are in the process of reviewing the implementation of Article 4; they are also further considering, as required by Article 26, any
	"further proposals to adapt the directive to developments in the field of television broadcasting, in particular in the light of recent technological developments". They expect to publish a consultative document in May this year.

Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many copies of the leaflet "Digital TV Information for Landlords" have (a) been printed and (b) been distributed, stating for each distribution whether it was (i) solicited and (ii) unsolicited.

Kim Howells: A total of 8,340 leaflets have been printed. Copies have been distributed to the organisations who were consulted over its production in the quantities agreed with them, as follows:
	
		
			 Organisation Number of leaflets distributed 
		
		
			 ASTRA Marketing Ltd. 10 
			 BBC 50 
			 BSkyB 50 
			 Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd. 50 
			 Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 20 
			 Department of Trade and Industry 50 
			 Digital Television Group 6 
			 Housing Corporation 4,175 
			 Independent Television Commission 20 
			 ITV Digital 30 
			 Local Government Association 650 
			 National Assembly for Wales (5)400 
			 National Housing Federation 200 
			 Scottish Assembly 50 
			 Welsh Local Government Association (6)2,400 
		
	
	(5) 200 in Welsh
	(6) 1,200 in Welsh
	Note:
	Further distribution is a matter for these organisations.
	In addition:
	
		
			   Number of leaflets distributed 
		
		
			 Unsolicited copies  
			 Libraries of both Houses 6 
			 Lower Press Gallery 15 
			 Clerk of the Select Committee 1 
			   
			 Solicited copies  
			 Public requests to Department for Culture, Media and Sport Less than 10 
		
	
	The leaflet is available on the website www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk.

Lottery Grant (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many lottery grant applications were made by organisations in Gloucestershire, broken down by parliamentary constituencies (a) since its inception and (b) since January 2001;
	(2)  how much lottery money has been applied for by organisations in Gloucestershire, broken down into parliamentary constituencies (a) since its inception and (b) since January 2001.

Richard Caborn: Comprehensive information on applications for lottery grants is not centrally held at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Public Service Broadcasting

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information she has (a) received and (b) is seeking about the definition of public service broadcasting in (i) other EU states and (ii) other countries.

Kim Howells: Officials in my Department are in regular contact with their opposite numbers in those states which are party to the Council of Europe's European convention on transfrontier television, as well as the other member states of the European Union. They also, from time to time, meet representatives from other countries to discuss issues which include public service broadcasting.

BBC

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she (a) has made and (b) will make of the numbers of licence fee payers who are able to access BBC online at their place of residence.

Kim Howells: I have made no such assessment and have no plans to do so. However, we know that an estimated 97.5 per cent. of households have television and therefore have or should have a television licence. Oftel's latest estimate, which was published on 29 January, is that 45 per cent. of households in the UK are now connected to the internet. All such homes will therefore be able to access BBC online.

BBC

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment she (a) has made and (b) plans to make of the (i) benefits and (ii) disadvantages to licence fee payers of (A) BBC Choice, (B) BBC Knowledge, (C) BBC Parliament, and (D) BBC News 24;
	(2)  what assessment she (a) has made and (b) will make of the (i) benefits and (ii) disadvantages to licence fee payers of BBC1.

Kim Howells: Any proposed new BBC public service requires approval by the holder of my office, who assesses it against criteria designed to ensure that the service is compatible with the BBC's primary public service role. A programme of reviews of such services against the approvals given, starting with BBC News 24, was announced by my predecessor as part of the licence fee settlement in February 2000. The terms of reference for the first review will be announced shortly. BBC Knowledge will be replaced soon by the new BBC4 service which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State approved in September 2001 and which will be reviewed in 2004. She is currently considering a further application for approval of a new BBC3 service which would replace BBC Choice.
	BBC1 covers the BBC's online, interactive and text services. A review of BBC online will be undertaken as part of the programme of reviews to which I have already referred.

BBC

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will include methods other than the licence fee to fund the BBC as part of the process leading to a decision on the renewal of the BBC charter.

Kim Howells: Yes.

BBC

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she (a) has made and (b) will make of the numbers of licence fee payers who are able to (i) receive and (ii) view (A) BBC Choice, (B) BBC Knowledge, (C) BBC Parliament, and (D) BBC News 24 at their place of residence.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	BBC digital services are broadcast free-to-view on digital terrestrial television, on digital satellite and are usually available on basic digital cable subscription packages. I provided information on digital television take up and on digital television coverage in my answer to the hon. Member for South Suffolk on 6 December 2001, Official Report, column 501W.

Lottery Funding

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the ventures in the Edinburgh, West constituency that have benefited from lottery money within the last 12 months.

Kim Howells: There have been 25 lottery awards made to the Edinburgh, West constituency, amounting to £4,628,512.00 over the past 12 months. A list of these awards is set out in the following table.
	
		£ 
		
			  Distributing body  Recipient  Project title  Award date Award amount 
		
		
			 Community Fund Edinburgh Volunteer Tutors Organisation This three-year project will provide one to one support for children (5–14 years) who are on the margins of school and community life, and whose behaviour or development is giving serious cause for concern. 9 February 2001 97,139 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council Carnegie Youth Theatre This group provides a platform for young people to join and participate in youth theatre. The grant will be used to fund advertising, hire of theatre, scenery, costumes, sound system and orchestra. 22 February 2001 4,900 
			  
			 Sport Scotland Craigmount Cougars This group provides young people with the opportunity to play American football both in friendly and competitive matches. The grant will be used to purchase helmets with face cages, shoulder pads, practice pants and lower pads. 22 February 2001 3,675 
			  
			 Heritage Lottery Fund North West Heritage This group encourages awareness of local heritage to the local community by giving presentations, creating archives and researching local history. The grant will be used to purchase archive storage drawer, filing cabinets, tape recorders, transcriber and stationery. 22 February 2001 1,379 
			 
			 Community Fund Partners in Advocacy This project will expand the number of volunteers recruited and trained to advocate for people with learning disabilities and support them in self advocacy in Dundee, Glasgow and West Lothian, establish a new base in West Lothian and create strong publicity. 23 March 2001 247,505 
			 Heritage Lottery Fund Scottish Wildlife Trust Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserves 27 March 2001 3,691,000 
			  
			 Community Fund Corstorphine Village Playgroup This group provides pre-school education and play opportunities for children. The grant will allow the group to purchase chairs. 5 April 2001 760 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council Edinburgh College of Piping Trust This group provides opportunities for people to practice and perform piping. The grant will be used to purchase musical instruments including practice chanters, pipes, drum and maintenance supplies. 5 April 2001 4,975 
			  
			 Community Fund 17 Platoon Royal Scots ACF This group provides growth and personal development opportunities for young people. The grant will be used to purchase equipment and fund training and publicity material. 8 June 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Community Fund Kids Around The World This group provides opportunities for children to experience cultural diversity through summer educational programmes. The grant will be used to purchase equipment and materials and fund sessional workers, transport, entrance fees and venue hire. 8 June 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Community Fund Invisible Disability Group This group provides social and recreational opportunities for young adults with invisible disabilities. The grant will be used to fund social activities, group work support, training and publicity. 8 June 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council Common Ground Arts This group provides opportunities for people of all ages to participate in a wide range of arts, working particularly with people with disabilities and mental illness. The grant will be used to purchase computer equipment, art materials and equipment and fund refurbishment of shop space and workshop space, publicity, administration and exhibition costs. 8 June 2001 4,950 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council Edinburgh Chinese Dance and Culture Youth Group This group provides opportunities for education, tuition and participation in chinese dance and arts. The grant will be used to fund venue hire, tutor's fees, transport, accommodation and costumes. 8 June 2001 3,100 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council The Castle Concert Orchestra This group provides opportunities for people to participate in orchestral music. The grant will be used to fund fees for musicians, conductor and soloist, material and equipment hire, music/score hire, venue hire, publicity, promotion and administration. 8 June 2001 3,285 
			  
			 Heritage Lottery Fund Queensferry History Group This group seeks to stimulate interest in local history and to research and record the history of the local area. The grant will be used to fund the production of a 'Guided Walk' booklet. 8 June 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Community Fund 134 Merchiston Scout Group This one year grant will fund the purchase of tents, cooking utensils, table and benches, navigation and orienteering equipment, emergency cards, ropes and stopwatches, a parachute and football strips. This project will enable the group to purchase new equipment to host a special 50th anniversary camp involving members and other community groups in a range of social and physical activities aimed at improving young peoples confidence and leadership skills. The new equipment will also allow greater diversity. 6 July 2001 4,997 
			  
			 Community Fund Drylaw/Telford Community Association This project aims to develop the centre's volunteer programme, increase the level of community participation in the centre by extending the number of times the cafe operates weekly and increase the capacity of the organisation to support volunteers and three existing and three new groups in their group development to develop their ideas further and identify where they can find the resources to take these ideas forward. 20 July 2001 100,198 
			  
			 Community Fund Black Community Development Project This project will support black and minority ethnic people in Greater Pilton, especially women, to overcome poverty, gain independent access to key resources (employment, training, services) and participate more fully in the community. 20 July 2001 152,141 
			 Sport Scotland Baseball Scotland This group promotes, develops and administers baseball in Scotland. The grant will be used to purchase team strips and caps, bats and balls for coaching clinics and to fund stadium rental, promotional costs, travel and accommodation for competitors. 9 August 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council North Edinburgh Arts Towards the cost of the Oyster project to provide opportunities for leisure and learning in the context of a festival 6 September 2001 68,964 
			  
			 Scottish Arts Council Aspects Art Project This group enables people from the local area to participate in a public arts project in order to design and install art works in a new community building. The grant will be used to fund sessional art workers and professional fees. 4 October 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Community Fund 21st South Queensferry (City of Edinburgh) Scout Group The project aims to build a new scout hall on land leased from Edinburgh city council. This will give larger and more flexible accommodation as well as full disabled access. 23 November 2001 70,000 
			  
			 Community Fund Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution This project will allow the organisation to employ additional welfare staff to assess increased applications for support from farmers and their families in Dumfries and Galloway who have been affected by the foot and mouth outbreak. 23 November 2001 130,765 
			  
			 Community Fund Hamari Pechaan This group seeks to promote the well being of young Asian women, providing information and advice and organising cultural and social activities. The grant will be used to purchase computer equipment, and to fund fees for sessional tutors and workshop facilitators, administration, volunteer expenses, cultural outings and transport. 6 December 2001 5,000 
			  
			 Community Fund Ratho Community Centre Association This group provides a varied programme of social and recreational activities in the local community centre. The grant will be used to purchase a bouncy castle and disco equipment. 6 December 2001 3,779

Golden Jubilee

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) applications have been made to and (b) grants have been awarded by the lottery-funded awards for all grants programme, to help communities celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee in June.

Tessa Jowell: To date 408 applications have been made. Of these 171 have been awarded grants and 196 await a decision.

Golden Jubilee

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the resignation of Lord Levene from his responsibilities for co-ordinating the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in London.

Tessa Jowell: None.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will publish (a) the terms of reference, (b) the instructions and (c) other guidance Lord Levene of Portsoken was given by the Government;
	(2)  when Lord Levene of Portsoken was appointed by the Government to oversee aspects of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Lord Levene's agreement to chair a special committee responsible for directing the planning and co-ordination of the celebrations in London was announced on 17 January 2001 by the Home Secretary. The terms of reference, announced the same day, were:
	1. To direct and deliver a programme of Golden Jubilee celebrations in London without incurring additional expenditure from public funds.
	2. In planning the above, to stimulate and consider proposals from potential organisers and sponsors of events in London to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
	3. To ensure that the programme of celebrations in the capital for the Queen's Golden Jubilee is co-ordinated with the official programmes for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in London.
	4. To provide Londoners with a lasting legacy of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
	5. To report to the Official Committee for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when (a) she, (b) other Ministers in her Department and (c) other Government Ministers have visited the Golden Jubilee Office; and what the purpose of each visit was.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	I visited the Golden Jubilee Office on 5 December 2001 to meet the staff and hear about their work. There have been no other ministerial visits.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when information about Lord Levene of Portsoken's resignation from the role to oversee aspects of the Golden Jubilee celebrations was released to the media; on what grounds the decision to release the information was made; and who authorised the release of the information.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	No information was released to the media by my Department.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff (a) work and (b) have stopped working (i) at their own request and (ii) at the request of others in the Golden Jubilee Office; when each member of staff was appointed; what the Department was from which each was seconded; what the Civil Service grade of each is; what the main responsibilities of each is; and what the reasons were for any who stopped work.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	On 21 January 2002, 21 staff, ranging from administrative assistant (grade D) to senior civil servant or equivalent levels, were working in the Golden Jubilee Office on a wide range of policy, operational and administrative duties. They were appointed between October 2000 and October 2001, from the Home Office, Government Information Service, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Cabinet Office, and from non-government sources. One Home Office administrative officer decided to leave during 2001 because she wished to return to her previous work.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when Lord Levene of Portsoken resigned from his role to oversee aspects of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	5 July 2001.

Golden Jubilee

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions (a) she, (b) other Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have had with Ministers and officials in (i) the Scottish Executive, (ii) the Welsh Assembly, and (iii) the Northern Ireland Assembly about the Golden Jubilee; and for each one if she will state the nature of the discussion.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 28 January 2002
	The ministerial group for the Queen's Golden Jubilee is responsible for supervising the programme to celebrate the Jubilee. I chair this group which includes Ministers from the devolved Administrations. We have discussed and approved various Golden Jubilee issues through correspondence. Senior officials from the devolved Administrations are members of the Official Committee for the Queen's Golden Jubilee (which has met every two months), and its Programmes sub-Committee (which met monthly until it completed its work in December). In addition, officials in the Golden Jubilee Office are in regular touch with officials in the devolved Administrations on a wide range of issues.

Departmental Leave Entitlements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what has been the average annual leave entitlement of staff in her Department in each of the last four years.

Kim Howells: The information is as follows.
	(a) The number of days of annual leave for full-time staff, outside the senior civil service, within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport depends on the individual's length of service. The initial allowance is five weeks, and after 10 years' service six weeks, and has been so for the past four years. Those staff who work part-time are allowed a proportion of the annual leave allowance, according to the length of their working week.
	(b) The annual leave entitlement for members of the senior civil service is currently set by Cabinet Office at 30 days per year and has been so for the last four years.
	(c) In addition to annual leave, full-time staff, including the senior civil service, are entitled to 10 full days and one half day each year by way of public or privilege holidays.

Broadcasting (Ministerial Audiences)

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will list the television programmes which (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department have viewed in an official capacity since 8 June 2001, stating for each occasion the date on which the viewing took place;
	(2)  if she will list the television programmes which (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department have viewed in an official capacity since 8 June 2001, stating for each occasion the (i) date on and (ii) venue at which the viewing took place;
	(3)  if she will list the radio programmes which (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department have listened to in an official capacity since 8 June 2001, stating for each occasion the (i) date on and (ii) venue at which the listening took place.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Ministers both view television programmes and listen to radio programmes as part of their official duties. They also do so in a personal capacity. However, there is no distinct boundary between the two and we do not maintain a central record.

Broadcasting (Ministerial Audiences)

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the recordings of (a) television and (b) radio programmes which (i) she and (ii) other Ministers in her Department have attended as an invited member of the audience since 8 June 2001, stating for each occasion the (A) date on and (B) venue at which the recording took place.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Since 8 June 2001, DCMS Ministers have attended the following events which were broadcast on television and radio as invited members of the audience. Attendance at such events allows Ministers to see developments in their sector at first hand and demonstrates our support. These are, of course, in addition to visits made in a private capacity or for party reasons.
	
		
			  Minister Event Venue 
		
		
			 24 October 2001 Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting British Independent Film Awards ceremony(7) Park Lane Hotel, London 
			 9 December 2001 Secretary of State Turner Prize 2001 Tate Britain, London 
			 9 December 2001 Minister of State for Sport BBC Sports Personality of the Year Television Centre, London 
			 14 December 2001 Secretary of State BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture Institute of Education, London 
			 20 January 2002 Minister of State for Sport Northern Rock North East Sports Awards(7) Seaburn Centre, Sunderland 
		
	
	(7) Also to present an award.

Analogue Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what advice she has (a) received and (b) plans to seek about when the conditions that need to be fulfilled before the analogue television signal is switched off might be fulfilled.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	I have received no advice about a specific date though I have made clear that the target 2006–10 is challenging. I expect to seek advice in the light of the work set out in the Digital Television Action Plan.

Ministerial Meetings

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the meetings which (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department have had with representatives of broadcasters since 8 June 2001, stating for each meeting the (i) date on which it took place, (ii) the broadcasters represented at the meeting and (iii) primary purpose.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	My ministerial colleagues and I have met many representatives from the broadcasting industry in the course of our duties since 8 June 2001 as part of the process of policy development and analysis. All such contacts are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code, the Civil Service Code and Guidance for Civil Servants: Contacts with Lobbyists. Some of these discussions take place on a confidential basis and in order to preserves this confidentiality it is not the normal practice of Governments to release details of specific meetings with private individuals or companies.

Digital Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 17 December 2001, Official Report, column 37W, on digitally originated graphics, if she will make an assessment of the (a) benefits and (b) disadvantages to television viewers and television owners of the use of on-screen digitally originated graphics, other than electronic programme guides, to identify and promote (i) television channels, (ii) programme strands, (iii) internet links and (iv) other programmes.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	I have no current plans to do so, but if the hon. Member would like to write explaining any particular issue he would like me to consider, I would be happy to do so.

Digital Television

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the (a) benefits and (b) disadvantages to consumers of receiving digital television by (i) digital terrestrial, (ii) digital satellite and (iii) digital cable.

Kim Howells: holding answer 4 February 2002
	My Department keeps all technologies under review.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Outsourcing (IS/IT Services)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 6 December 2001, Official Report, column 514W, on outsourcing, what the estimated size is of the reduced cost to his Department from the outsourcing of IS and IT services.

Ian McCartney: The Department first outsourced its IT data centre and mainframe operations in 1995, and subsequently outsourced the development and maintenance of its IT systems in 2000. Costs and benefits associated with the outsourcing of all of these IS/IT services were forecast on the basis of initial planning assumptions known at the time that the contract was let. A prudent approach was taken in the calculations in terms of spending on IT systems development and maintenance, and data centre and mainframe operational services.
	Based on these factors, a positive net present value was delivered representing a reduction of 3 per cent. in costs over the life of the contract. However, a fuller assessment of the actual financial impact of outsourcing is not available, since the contract is only in its early stages.
	Additionally, this contract cannot be viewed within the context of cost reduction alone. Various non-financial factors were also of considerable importance in the decision to proceed with strategic outsourcing. In particular, the transfer of high levels of risk associated with new IT development to the service provider.

Income Support

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what amount of rental income is disregarded from income support calculations when heating is included in the rent of a sub-tenant.

Nick Brown: The disregard will increase from £9.25 to £9.40 from April 2002, and this will be included in the Up-rating Order which will shortly be laid before the House. I regret that the list of rates that was published in November 2000 and November 2001 gave incorrect rates for April 2001 and April 2002. The correct rates are included in the legislation and reflect movements in fuel prices.

Disability Living Allowance

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of disability living allowance benefits appeals were won by claimants after the medical examination in (a) the West Midlands and (b) the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: Disability living allowance appeals cleared at hearing in Great Britain and those processed through the Appeals Service's Birmingham regional centre during the period 1 October 2000 to 30 September 2001:
	
		
			  Great Britain Birmingham regional centre 
		
		
			 Cleared at hearing(8) 90,935 8,330 
			 Found in favour 46,770 3,595 
			 Percentage found in appelant's favour 51.4 43.2 
		
	
	(8) Includes both oral and paper hearings
	Note:
	All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	Source:
	100 per cent. download of the Generic Appeals Processing System

Disability Living Allowance

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of claimants for disability living allowance have been refused benefit after they have been receiving disability living allowance for (a) one year, (b) five years, (c) 10 years and (d) 20 years since medical testing was introduced.

Maria Eagle: Information is not available in the form requested. Since its inception in 1992, decisions about entitlement to DLA have been made on the basis of all the available evidence about a severely disabled person's care and/or mobility needs. In some cases, this evidence includes a report from the claimant's general practitioner or from an examining doctor, but there is no "medical test" which determines entitlement.

Disability Living Allowance

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations he has received over the last 12 months about the Benefits Agency's use of inadequately qualified and experienced doctors to assess disabled living allowance applicants; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: Information on representations received regarding inadequately qualified and experienced doctors undertaking examinations for disability living allowance is not collected. The Department takes steps to ensure that only doctors with appropriate experience and qualifications conduct such examinations.
	The chief medical adviser must approve all such doctors. There are strict recruitment criteria and doctors must undertake prescribed training and demonstrate competence in these examinations. Ongoing approval is subject to satisfactory performance and attendance at an agreed programme of continued medical education. Complaints are taken into account in determining performance.

Disability Living Allowance

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what was the average time taken for a review of disability living allowance in the last 12 months.

Maria Eagle: Reviews of disability living allowance (DLA) were replaced by Reconsiderations under the system of decision making and appeals introduced from October 1999.
	The average clearance time for DLA Reconsiderations in the year to December 2001 was 38.9 days.

Departmental Leave Entitlement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what has been the average annual leave entitlement of staff in his Department in each of the last four years.

Ian McCartney: The two main elements of DWP formed in June 2001 are the former DSS and ES. The average annual leave entitlements outside the Senior Civil Service over the last four years within those organisations have been as follows:
	Staff in the grades AA up to and including EO:
	DSS
	22 days on entry
	25 days after 1 years service
	30 days after 12 years service effective from 1 April 2002
	30 days after 14 years service effective from 1 January 2000
	30 days after 15 years service effective from 1 August 1999
	30 days after 20 years service prior to 1 August 1999
	ES
	22 days on entry
	25 days after 1 years service
	30 days after 12 years service effective from 1 April 2002
	30 days after 14 years service effective from 1 October 2000
	30 days after 15 years service prior to 1 October 2000
	Staff in HEO grade:
	DSS
	22 days on entry
	25 days after 1 years service
	30 days after 12 years service effective from 1 April 2002
	30 days after 14 years service effective from 1 January 2002
	30 days after 15 years service prior to 1 January 2000
	ES
	22 days on entry
	25 days after 1 years service
	30 days after 12 years service effective 1 April 2002
	30 days after 14 years service effective 1 October 2000
	30 days after 15 years service prior to 1 October 2000
	Staff in grades SEO up to and including UG6. Both DSS and ES
	25 days on entry
	30 days after 1 years service
	Senior Civil Service
	The annual leave allowances for members of the Senior Civil Service is set by the Cabinet Office and continues to be 30 days on entry.

Performance and Verification Frameworks

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which local authorities have implemented the Verification Framework; how much the expert Help Team has cost; how many local authorities have applied for money from the Help Fund; which have been given grants and of how much; and what evaluation has taken place of the local authorities involved in piloting the Performance Framework.

Malcolm Wicks: I am pleased to announce that 32 of the 104 bids submitted to the Help Fund have been successful. As many of these are joint bids from groups of local authorities, the allocations, totalling £1.638 million, will help around 250 local authorities overall. The Help Fund was set up to address core problems in housing benefit delivery at a local level and is a practical demonstration of the Government's commitment to working with local authorities to improve the standard of housing benefit administration. The funded projects will make significant improvements in areas such as training, customer service and IT capabilities. I am placing a full list of the successful bids in the Library today.
	As at 1 February 2002, 242 local authorities are compliant with the Verification Framework. A list has been placed in the Library.
	The Help Team is a partnership initiative to support local authorities which are working to improve the administration of housing benefit. Help Team visits to local authorities began in March 2001. The total forecast costs for the project until March 2002 are £970,000.
	14 local authorities participated in the pilot work for the Performance Framework. The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate had inspected 11 of them before the pilot and one has now had a best value inspection. The pilots provided useful information and views on the realism of the standards, and input from these authorities has helped us improve their specification.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 27 December 2001 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Janet Hamnett.

Alistair Darling: I replied to my right hon. Friend today.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Electoral Modernisation

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the names of those authorities that have been approved to run electoral modernisation pilot schemes in the May 2002 local elections; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: I have today agreed that 30 local authorities will pilot new methods of voting at local and mayoral elections this May.
	These electoral modernisation pilots build on the 2000 local election pilots and will test new and easier arrangements, such as early voting, all postal ballots and mobile ballot kiosks.
	The earlier successes of postal voting ensure it will play a key role in the pilot programme. In the 2000 local elections, most postal pilots recorded a 50 per cent. or greater rise in the number of votes cast compared with previous local elections in 1999. The 2001 general election saw a record number of postal votes cast—some 1.4 million, compared with 738,614 postal votes at the 1997 general election. Postal voting has shown that it can make a difference. The pilot programme aims, therefore, to build upon these successes and explore all-postal ballots and other techniques to make the voting process simpler, accessible and more efficient for the electorate.
	In addition over half of the pilots will explore innovative ways in which people can vote electronically using mobile phone text message services, touch telephone, local digital television and on-line voting methods using home computers, local libraries and council-run information kiosks. The councils involved will be working with IT suppliers.
	This marks an important first step towards e-voting across the country. The pilots will be crucial in building public confidence and testing technical robustness to ensure that the integrity of the poll is maintained. We are particularly keen to engage younger voters and feel these new innovations will help. Our aim is to learn from these pilots so we can confidently modernise our voting arrangements—making the most of new technology so that voting is more accessible for everyone, but at the same time secure and efficient. We propose an ever more extensive programme of pilots at future local elections to open up the possibility of an e-enabled general election some time after 2006.
	My announcement reflects the Government's commitment to modernising our democratic processes. My Department has worked with the Electoral Commission, the Local Government Association and the Office of the e-Envoy in considering all of the 41 bids received. The successful authorities, together with a brief description of the activity to be undertaken in the pilot, are listed in the table. Of the remaining authorities, three withdrew their bids, eight applications were judged to fall outside our published criteria or the scope of the enabling legislation.
	The Electoral Commission will be providing support and advice to pilot authorities. We will be providing financial support for the costs of IT investment—up to £3.5 million. Officials will now be discussing allocation details with the pilot authorities and the IT suppliers.
	
		List of applications
		
			 Name of Council Type of ballot Area covered 
		
		
			 Borough of Basingstoke and Deane All postal Three wards 
			 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council E-voting (kiosk) and e-counting All wards 
			 Borough of Broxbourne E-counting Four wards 
			 London Borough of Camden Early weekend voting (27–28 April) in addition to 2 May All wards 
			 Chester City Council E-voting (touch screen machine) and e-counting Three wards 
			 Chorley Borough Council All postal and e-counting All wards 
			 Crawley Borough Council All postal Three wards 
			 Borough of Crewe and Nantwich E-voting (option of voting on line via Council's web site prior to 2 May) in addition to traditional methods Two wards 
			 Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council E-counting of elected Mayoral votes All wards 
			 Epping Forest District Council E-counting All wards 
			 Gateshead Council All postal All wards 
			 London Borough of Greenwich All postal Two wards 
			 London Borough of Hackney All postal and e-counting for local elections and mayoral referendum All wards 
			 London Borough of Havering All postal All wards 
			 Hyndburn Borough Council Leaflet address from all parties to each voter All wards 
			 The City of Liverpool E-voting and e-counting (telephone, internet, digital TV or text messaging) early voting—from 27–4. Real time on-line register at any polling station in voters ward Two/three wards 
			 London Borough of Newham E-voting and e-counting. Early voting, mobile voting and use of languages in voting All wards 
			 North Tyneside Council All postal in local and mayoral elections, and e-counting All wards 
			 North West Leicestershire District Council All postal One parish 
			 Preston Borough Council All postal Two wards 
			 Rugby Borough Council E-counting (use of optical scanners) All wards 
			 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council All postal with electronic counting option All wards 
			 St Albans City and District Council E-voting (kiosk and internet) and e-counting Two wards 
			 Sheffield City Council E-voting (kiosk, internet and SMS mobile phone text) and e-counting in addition to traditional methods 3 wards 
			 Stevenage Borough Council All postal All wards 
			 Stratford-on-Avon District Council E-voting (kiosk) and e- counting All wards 
			 Swindon Borough Council Early voting (25–30 April) by internet or touch tone telephone (with in-built security measures) in addition to traditional methods All wards 
			 Trafford Metropolitan Borough All postal All wards 
			 London Borough of Wandsworth Extended hours from 7.00am to 10.00pm All wards 
			 City of Westminster E-counting and extended hours (0700–2200 hrs) All wards

Electoral Fraud

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the proportion of ballot papers which were the product of forgery and were not counted in the (a) 2001 and (b) 1997 general elections.

Alan Whitehead: We are not aware that any forged papers were identified at either of these elections.

Electoral Fraud

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the official mark as a safeguard against electoral fraud; and what plans he has to introduce further safeguards.

Alan Whitehead: At least five of the applications for electoral pilots to take place at next May's local elections include proposals for alternatives to the official mark, including watermarked or bar-coded ballot papers. Should they be approved and go ahead, the pilots will be evaluated by the Electoral Commission. We, together with the commission, will consider any conclusions carefully.

Electoral Fraud

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research he has undertaken into security and the prevention of ballot rigging in the evaluation of the feasibility of internet voting.

Alan Whitehead: We have jointly commissioned research by a team led by De Montfort university, into the potential barriers (among which are security issues) to electronic voting, including internet. Our partners include the Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association. We expect to publish the findings from this research by June 2002.
	We will be approving a number of pilot schemes of innovative electoral practices in the May 2002 local elections, which may include internet voting. The Electoral Commission will evaluate each pilot scheme to assess whether it met our criteria of making voting straightforward, efficient, accessible and secure. The reports will be published within three months of election date.

Consultants

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many contracts and what fees in each financial year since 1997–98 (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, (c) KPMG, (d) PA Consulting, (e) WS Atkins, (f) Accenture, (g) Deloitte & Touche, (h) McKinsey, (i) Capita, (j) AEA Technology, (k) Xansa Group, (l) Sema Group, (m) CMG Admiral, (n) ICL Group and (o) Logica received for advising his Department on PFI and PPP contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: My Department's contracts for the provision of advice on PFI and PPP contracts since 1997–98 are set out in the following table. Details of the fees incurred in each financial year can be only provided by incurring a disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number of advice contracts 
		
		
			 (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers 4 
			 (b) Cap Gemini Ernst and Young 3 
			 (c) KPMG 2 
			 (d) PA Consulting 1 
			 (e) WS Atkins 0 
			 (f) Accenture 0 
			 (g) Deloitte and Touche 1 
			 (h) McKinsey 0 
			 (i) Capita 0 
			 (j) AEA Technology 0 
			 (k) Xansa Group 0 
			 (l) SEMA Group 0 
			 (m) CMG Admiral 0 
			 (n) ICL Group 0 
			 (o) Logica 0

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1041W, on special advisers, how many special advisers have left his Department since May 1997; on how many occasions the head of his Department has recommended a gap between leaving employment in his Department and taking up outside employment; if he will list the gap for each occasion this has occurred; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Whitehead: Since May 1997 10 special advisers have left the Department. Special advisers, like other civil servants, are subject to the business appointment rules which require them to seek approval for taking up outside employment in defined circumstances. Following consideration by the Independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, a gap of six months was recommended in one case.

Government Expenditure (London)

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total Government expenditure in each London borough (a) was in each of the past five years and (b) is planned for 2002–03, broken down into (i) the Standards Fund, (ii) the Ethnic Minority Achievement grant, (iii) The Excellence in Cities grant and (iv) the Sure Start grant.

Alan Whitehead: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Standard Spending Assessment

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average SSA is in 2002 for councils and local authority areas in England.

Alan Whitehead: The average SSA for 2002–03 in England across all 432 local authorities is £115.190 million. Different classes of authority provide different services. The table shows the average SSA by class of authority.
	
		£ million 
		
			 Class of authority Average SSA 
		
		
			 City of London 54.645 
			 Inner London boroughs 281.295 
			 Outer London boroughs 236.383 
			 Greater London authority 1,168.594 
			 Metropolitan district councils 297.089 
			 Metropolitan fire authorities 64.521 
			 Metropolitan police authorities 150.103 
			 Shire district councils 9.891 
			 Shire county councils 491.364 
			 Shire unitary authorities 163.422 
			 Shire police authorities 60.378 
			 Isles of Scilly 3.192

Noise and Nuisance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much funding his Department has allocated to tackling noise and nuisance in Buckinghamshire in each of the last five years.

Alan Whitehead: Local authority revenue expenditure on noise reduction is covered by the district level sub-block of environmental, protective and cultural services. Allocations for individual services within the sub-block are not identified separately.

High Hedges

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he expects to publish his Department's guidance on disputes between neighbours about high hedges and overhanging trees; and how such disputes may be amicably resolved.

Sally Keeble: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Thomas) on 10 December 2001, Official Report, columns 584–85W.

Departmental Studies

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many studies initiated since 1997 have covered subjects that have previously been the subject of studies by his Department since 1972.

Alan Whitehead: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The Department initiates studies on a wide range of issues relevant to particular aspects of its policy areas. Many policy areas are the subject of more than one study. To carry out a precise analysis of all the studies undertaken since 1997 and the policy areas they address would entail unreasonable cost. Results of studies and research projects are regularly announced on the DTLR website.

Buses

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total public sector subsidy for buses was, at current prices, in each year between 1991 and 2001.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The figures are shown in table 19 of the DTLR publication "A Bulletin of Public Transport Statistics GB: 2001 edition", which is in the Libraries of the House.

Essen Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2002, Official Report, column 321W, ref 31544, if it is his policy to build a new dual carriageway or motorway link through mid-Wales along the route of the link in the Essen plan.

John Spellar: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The Essen plan includes the Ireland-UK-Benelux road link, of which sections of the A5 as well as roads in Wales form part. A study to consider safety and environmental problems on the A5 and A483 between Shrewsbury and Chester is due to report this spring and its recommendations will be carefully considered. Any recommendation for improvements to highways in Wales will be considered by the devolved Administration.

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will place in the Library legal advice received by his Department about the use of repeater signs in 30mph speed limits.

John Spellar: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Legislation on the use of repeater signs in lit 30mph speed limits is already available in the Library. Direction 10 of the statutory instrument: traffic signs regulations and general directions 1994 provides that repeater signs shall be placed at regular intervals on all roads except restricted roads or on any road where the national speed limit is in force.
	Section 82 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 describes a restricted road as a road which there is a system of street lighting placed not more than 200 yards apart.

Roads Investment

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what total public sector investment was in roads, at current prices, in each year between 1991 and 2001.

John Spellar: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Figures for years up to 1999–2000 are published in table 1.16 of transport statistics Great Britain (TSGB) 2001, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House. Figures for 2000–01 are not yet available.

Cycling

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to introduce a law compelling cyclists to have bells.

John Spellar: The Department is considering this in its review of regulations dealing with safety standards for pedal cycles.

Urban Capacity Studies

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on how many local authorities have produced urban capacity studies (a) before 7 March 2000 and (b) since 7 March 2000; and how many of these are in accordance with the good practice guidance in "Tapping the Potential" published in December 2000.

Sally Keeble: We have a major research project under way looking at the implementation of the policies set out in planning policy guidance note 3 "housing" (PPG3). The research will report the progress made by local authorities in carrying out the urban housing capacity studies expected by PPG3 and the extent to which these reflect the guidance set out in "Tapping the Potential".

Airport Security

David Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to monitor the security of airports abroad and to publish advice on this issue to British nationals.

David Jamieson: Under international law, host states are responsible for the security applied to civil aircraft leaving the state. However, my Department closely monitors the security afforded to and carried out by UK carriers at overseas airports. My Department is also working closely with our international partners to increase the existing minimum international standards for aviation security.
	We do not discuss security measures at airports, but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website contains helpful information to travellers about safety and other matters.

British Waterways

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on what powers British Waterways has to grant itself planning permission and to carry out works in a conservation area without being subject to the normal planning procedures.

Sally Keeble: British Waterways has no powers to grant itself planning permission but does enjoy permitted development rights under Part 17 of schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 which enable it to carry out certain development in relation to canal or inland navigation undertakings without having to apply for planning permission.

Greenfield Sites

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on whether the Government had carried out a national audit of greenfield allocations to complement the national land use database of brownfield sites.

Sally Keeble: The Government have not carried out a national audit of greenfield allocations to complement the national land use database of brownfield sites. Our planning policies for housing give priority to re-using previously-developed land within urban areas in preference to the development of greenfield sites. We set up the national land use database to help local authorities establish how many additional homes can be built in urban areas on brownfield sites.

Greenfield Sites

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many hectares of greenfield land previously allocated for housing in local plans and unitary development plans have been de-allocated since 7 March 2000.

Sally Keeble: The Secretary of State is a statutory consultee in the preparation of development plans and through the Government offices has been examining emerging plans carefully to identify unnecessary greenfield releases. Just over 300 objections to plans on PPG3 grounds were made in the period 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001. Information on the hectarage of greenfield de-allocations is not collected centrally.

Starter Home Initiative

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how the building land for the Starter Home Initiative is being sourced.

Sally Keeble: The majority of Starter Home Initiative assistance will help key workers to purchase an existing dwelling. Beyond this, scheme providers will obtain building land from purchases from the private sector, local authorities and other public bodies.

Starter Home Initiative

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people in the Epsom and Ewell constituency have benefited from the Starter Home Initiative for key workers; and what the (a) average and (b) total amount granted is.

Sally Keeble: The Starter Home Initiative allocations announced on 6 September 2001 included a Surrey-wide scheme, including Epsom and Ewell constituency, to help 398 key workers and in addition a dedicated scheme for Epsom and Ewell covering seven key workers. The grant that has been allocated to these two schemes over the three years 2001–02 to 2003–04 averages £17,605 per person.
	Bidding guidance for the Starter Home Initiative Equity Loan scheme, announced on 16 January 2002, proposed help for a further 79 key workers across Surrey.

Worcestershire Structure Plan

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on what grounds Government Departments may disregard the Worcestershire Structure Plan when considering the location of a new facility built by departments or their agencies; and if he will make a statement.

Sally Keeble: The non-statutory procedures set out in DOE circular 18/84 that deal with development by Crown bodies make it clear that if any development proposal would constitute a departure from the development plan, it must be dealt with like an application for planning permission for similar development and be subject to the same arrangements for advertisement and notification to my Department. If the Secretary of State decides that the proposal should be the subject of a non-statutory public inquiry and subsequent consideration by him, the local planning authority will be informed. The development plan comprises both the adopted structure plan and the local plan where applicable.

Community Transport Services

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the proposed regulations extending fuel duty rebate to community transport services will come into force.

Sally Keeble: Following consultation with relevant organisations last year, we will be bringing forward regulations within the next few weeks with the intention of introducing this new entitlement as early as possible in 2002–03.

Concessionary Fare Schemes

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what the gross cost is in each local authority of concessionary fare schemes at the most recent date for which information is available; and what the cost is per (a) resident, (b) resident aged 60 years or over and (c) bus passenger mile in each local authority;
	(2)  what the anticipated gross cost would be to each local authority of concessionary fare schemes following implementation of the proposals in the Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill [Lords]; and what the cost would be per (a) resident, (b) resident aged 60 years or over and (c) bus passenger mile.

Sally Keeble: The information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Concessionary Fare Schemes

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list by local authority those areas in which pensioners travel concessions are available (a) offering nil fares, (b) offering half fares and (c) offering concessions amounting to less than half fares.

Sally Keeble: The Transport Act 2000 requires that from 1 June 2001 local authorities provide their resident pensioners with at least half-fares on local buses. Some local authorities using their discretionary powers have more generous schemes.

Ferries

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the ferry crossings from mainland Great Britain that are in receipt of central Government financial support; and if he will give the extent of that support in each case, in each of the last three years.

John Spellar: Her Majesty's Government do not subsidise ferry crossings. The Scottish Executive subsidise lifeline ferry services in the Scottish highlands and islands for which they are accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Responsibility for expenditure on such services prior to the introduction of devolution on 1 July 1999 lay with the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Crossrail

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether it is his policy to allow funding for Crossrail to be raised through a public bond issue.

John Spellar: holding answer 4 February 2002
	No decisions have yet been taken about the most appropriate method of procuring any Crossrail scheme.

Channel Tunnel Freight Services

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what plans he has to increase the number of freight services using the channel tunnel; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what action has been taken since the meeting with the head of security for the French railways on 3 December last year to accelerate implementation of the measures needed to restore the number of freight services through the channel tunnel to pre-7 November 2001 levels.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 30 January 2002, Official Report, columns 322–23W.

Rail Network

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many coaches are operating on the rail network; and how many are projected to be in operation in 2005.

John Spellar: There are approximately 10,000 vehicles currently in operation on the national rail network. It is anticipated that, after taking into account those coaches which must be withdrawn from service, there will be in the region of 10,500 vehicles in operation by 2005.
	There are to date 2,218 confirmed orders for new coaches to replace older stock before 2005.

Selby Rail Crash

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement regarding the application made by North Yorkshire Police Authority under the Bellwin scheme to cover its costs associated with the Selby rail crash.

Nick Raynsford: I have received a request from North Yorkshire Police Authority for assistance under the Bellwin scheme with the exceptional costs they incurred in connection with the Selby rail crash. I am satisfied that financial assistance under the Bellwin scheme is justified in the case of North Yorkshire Police Authority given the exceptional nature of the costs incurred by the authority following the rail crash. A scheme will, therefore be established under section 155 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Grant will be paid to cover 85 per cent. of the eligible costs above a threshold, which the authority incurred in dealing with the rail crash.

Strategic Rail Plan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether public investment in the Railways under the 10-year plan includes the public sector contribution to projected payments to Railtrack in Control Period 2.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Network grants to Railtrack, and its successor company, are classified as public investment support. The proportion of the renewals investment programme that is unsupported by grant is classified as private investment.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total (a) loan facility and (b) working capital facility drawn down by the Railtrack Administrator under the commercial loan agreement is.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 February 2002
	£1,492,017,636 has been drawn down from the loan facility. Nothing has been drawn down from the working capital facility.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether the additional money originally announced on 14 January for the railways includes the additional funding for Railtrack brought forward from Control Period 3 into Control Period 2.

David Jamieson: holding answer 4 February 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 30 January 2002, Official Report, column 322W.

Railtrack

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 17 December 2001, Official Report, column 9W, on Railtrack, for whom the assessment of cash-flow from assets was conducted; why his Department conducted an assessment of the cash-flows provided by assets from Railtrack, but no assessment of the direct value of assets in (i) Railtrack plc and (ii) Railtrack Group; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to previous replies given to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 31W, 23 November 2001, Official Report, column 496W, and 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 22W.

Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether Railtrack needed to raise more money during the current financial year than was envisaged in its business plan.

John Spellar: The evidence to the High Court on 7 October 2001 demonstrated that Railtrack plc was, or was soon likely to become, unable to meet its existing debts. On that basis it could not raise the money envisaged in its business plan.

TREASURY

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total costs involved in the Exchequer Partnership bond issue for the Treasury Building PFI deal were including total fees paid to banks, professional advisers and others, showing for each amount paid the (a) payer and (b) payee.

Andrew Smith: The information is as follows:
	(i) Fees paid by EP up to and including financial close (May 2000), as shown in the financial model, were:
	
		
			   £ million 
		
		
			 SG Financial advice to EP 1.250 
			 SG Mezzanine underwriting 0.100 
			 Chesterton Property/letting advice to EP 0.900 
			 PwC Tax and accounting advice to EP 0.100 
			 Ashurst Morris Crisp Legal advice to EP 0.800 
			 C. E. Heath Insurance advice to EP 0.060 
			 Marsh Bankrisk Insurance due diligence for funders 0.030 
			 Failthfull & Gould Technical due diligence for funders 0.150 
			 Allen & Overy Legal due diligence for funders 0.532 
			 PKF Model audit 0.070 
			 Rating Agencies Bond rating costs 0.200 
			 UBS Warburg Bond arrangement fee 0.799 
			 Ambac Initial credit enhancement premium 1.845 
			 Ambac Mezzanine arrangement fee 0.132 
			 Total  6.968 
		
	
	(ii) Fees paid by HMT up to and including financial close were:
	
		
			   £ million 
		
		
			 GTMS Project management and technical advice 0.462 
			 Berwin Leighton Legal advice 1.355 
			 Dresdner Kleinwort Benson Financial advice 0.645 
			 Cecil Denny Highton Advice on accommodation requirements 0.101 
			 C. B. Hillier Parker Specialist property-related advice 0.013 
			 Roger Preston & Partners Mechanical and electrical engineering advice 0.043 
			 Willis Corroon Insurance advice 0.006 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountancy advice 0.012 
			 Total  2.637

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total (a) refurbishment and (b) operating costs are of the Treasury building, broken down by the principal cost headings used.

Ruth Kelly: As at financial close (5 May 2000), the total projected costs to the start of operations are:
	
		
			  Total  
			 Funding requirement £ million Percentage 
		
		
			 Net VAT paid/(received) 0.115 0.1 
			 Construction cost 118.659 84.2 
			 Pre-operating costs 7.578 5.4 
			 Senior debt service reserve 4.392 3.1 
			 Change in law reserve 2.419 1.7 
			 Cash 0.608 0.4 
			 Interest and fees: 0.800 0.6 
			 Mezzanine Debt Bond (net of interest received) 6.394 4.5 
			 Total 140.965 100.0 
		
	
	The annual service costs payable to EP form part of the single Unitary Payment payable by HMT. These costs are expressed in March 1999 prices and are subject to indexation:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Hard services(9) 1,504 
			 Soft services(10) 1,930 
			  
			 Total services 3,434 
			 Capital charges 10,603 
			  
			 Total unitary payment 14,037 
		
	
	(9) Includes M&E systems, building fabric, fire and safety systems, security hardware.
	(10) Includes cleaning and waste management, security personnel, Help Desk.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the 10 years prior to the Treasury Building PFI deal, how much the Treasury has paid in annual rent for the Treasury Building.

Ruth Kelly: Figures for the years up to 1995–96 are not readily available. Figures for later years are in an answer I am giving to the hon. Member today.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions have been made about inflation in the Treasury Building PFI deal.

Ruth Kelly: The base case assumption was a constant 2.5 per cent. annual increase in the RPI all items index.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discount rate was used for the Treasury Building PFI deal; and, using this discount rate, what the total net present cost is of the annual unitary payments over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal.

Ruth Kelly: The total net present cost of the annual unitary payments over the lifetime of the deal is £169.3 million, discounted at 6 per cent. in real terms and assuming 2.5 per cent. inflation.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under the terms of the Treasury Building PFI deal, who owns the freehold of the Treasury Building.

Andrew Smith: The building remains a Crown freehold throughout the term of the deal. Exchequer Partnership plc will be granted a head lease for the whole site on completion of the refurbishment of the Treasury accommodation at the west end of the summer. They will then grant the Treasury a sub-lease for our accommodation for the thirty-five year operating period. Once the eastern end is refurbished, Exchequer Partnership will grant similar sub-leases to the tenants there.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total capital sum involved in the Treasury Building PFI deal was, broken down by (a) equity and (b) the different layers of debt.

Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows:
	
		Sources of funding
		
			   Total  
			  £ million Percentage 
		
		
			 Ordinary Shares 0.500 0.4 
			 Shareholder Loan Stock 6.425 4.5 
			 Mezzanine Debt 6.250 4.4 
			 Bond 127.790 90.7 
			  
			 Total 140.965 100.0 
		
	
	Note:
	The equity comprises the ordinary shares and the shareholder loan stock, a total of £6.925 million, or 4.9 per cent. of the total funding.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total annual operating costs were for the Treasury Building in each of the four years prior to the Treasury building PFI deal, broken down by (a) cleaning, (b) security, (c) electricity, (d) water, (e) gas, (f) non- domestic rates, (g) basic maintenance, (h) exceptional maintenance and (i) other significant operating cost items.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury building is a Crown freehold so has not been subject to conventional rents. For the four years prior to the PFI deal a capital charge (an intra- Government transfer payment) has been payable on the Treasury building. The Treasury has another building— Allington Towers (AT) in Victoria street—which is a leasehold building so subject to rental payments to a landlord. The intention is to surrender the Allington Towers lease when the staff there have moved into the refurbished Treasury building this summer. While the refurbishment of the west end of the Treasury building is going ahead, some two thirds of our staff remain in the east end of the building while the remaining third are housed at Allington Towers. The total costs of running the two buildings are set out in the table.
	
		£ million 
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 
		
		
			 Items included in unitary payment: 
			 Rent/capital charge 4.71 4.91 4.69 6.62 
			 Cleaning/security/maintenance 2.1 3.03 2.62 2.21 
			 Items not included in the unitary payment: 
			 Rates, utilities' costs, copying, furniture and fittings 3.114 2.861 2.897 2.985

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Treasury Building PFI deal ends, how much at current prices he estimates the Treasury will pay in annual rent.

Ruth Kelly: At the end of the PFI deal in 2037 ownership of the building reverts to the Treasury. We then have a choice whether to negotiate a new deal with Exchequer Partnership, or another supplier, or to take responsibility for running the building ourselves once again.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates the total amount of cash paid by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal would have been if the discount rate had been (a) 3.50 per cent., (b) 3.75 per cent., (c) 4.00 per cent., (d) 4.25 per cent., (e) 4.50 per cent., (f) 4.75 per cent., (g) 5.00 per cent. and (h) 5.50 per cent.

Ruth Kelly: Under current Treasury guidance to Departments on the carrying out of investment appraisals (the "Green Book") the discount rate to be used is 6 per cent. in real terms. Were the guidance to be changed in the future, other parts of the methodology might also vary. So simply changing one variable, in this case the discount rate, is not valid.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the total amount of cash paid by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal assuming no inflation.

Ruth Kelly: The Unitary Payment (UP) is set at £14.037 million per annum in March 1999 prices, to be indexed annually by the RPI. Assuming no inflation, therefore, the Treasury would pay £491.3 million over the 35 year contract term.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of issue of the Exchequer Partnership bond for the Treasury Building PFI deal, what the total extra cash paid by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal would have been for every change of 0.1 per cent. in the bond spread.

Ruth Kelly: The total additional payment over the lifetime of the project would have been £6.568 million per 0.1 per cent. increase in the bond spread. The NPC impact of a 0.1 per cent. increase is £1.329 million (discounted at 6 per cent. real), and the annual increase in the Unitary Payment would have been £110,00 as at 31 March 1999.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much he estimates the bond spread of the Exchequer Partnership bond issued for the Treasury Building PFI deal would have had to widen before the project had become unviable.

Ruth Kelly: The contract with EP provided for a cap of £14.2 million on the Unitary Payment (i.e £13.981 at the time the contract was signed in August 1999) if funding was subsequently secured through the bond route. If the cap had been exceeded, then it would have been for the Treasury to decide whether a new, higher figure would still have provided good value for money.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer using the Treasury's inflation assumptions for the Treasury Building PFI deal, what he estimates the total amount of cash paid by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership will be over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal.

Ruth Kelly: £838.154 million. This equates to £169.3 million in net present cost terms, discounted at 6 per cent. in real terms and assuming 2.5 per cent. inflation.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates the total amount of cash paid by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership will be over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal assuming a constant inflation rate of (a) 2.00 per cent., (b) 2.25 per cent., (c) 2.50 per cent., (d) 2.75 per cent., (e) 3.00 per cent., (f) 4.00 per cent. and (g) 5.00 per cent.

Ruth Kelly: These calculations have no bearing on the value for money assessment since the project appraisal is conducted in real terms.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates the total net present cost of the annual unitary payments by the Treasury to Exchequer Partnership over the lifetime of the Treasury Building PFI deal would have been if the discount rate had been (a) 3.50 per cent., (b) 3.75 per cent., (c) 4.00 per cent., (d) 4.25 per cent., (e) 4.50 per cent., (f) 4.75 per cent., (g) 5.00 per cent. and (h) 5.50 per cent.

Ruth Kelly: Under current Treasury guidance to Departments on the carrying out of investment appraisals (the "Green Book") the discount rate to be used is 6 per cent. in real terms. Were the guidance to be changed in the future, other parts of the methodology might also vary. So simply changing one variable, in this case the discount rate, is not valid.

Treasury Building PFI Deal

Richard Bacon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) gross and (b) net proceeds were from the Exchequer Partnership Bond issue.

Ruth Kelly: The gross proceeds were £127.790 million and the net proceeds £123.639 million.

Amateur Sports Clubs

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures have been introduced since 1997 to give tax and rate relief to amateur sports clubs; and what plans he has to give further assistance.

Paul Boateng: A consultation document—"Promoting Sport in the Community"—was launched on 30 November 2001, seeking views on the best way to support community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) that make a positive contribution to the community. The Charity Commission also announced on 30 November that it would recognise as charitable the
	"promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by the provision of facilities for the playing of particular sports" this will confer the tax benefits of charitable status to qualifying CASCs.

Financial Services Authority

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 890W, on the Financial Services Authority, 
	(1)  what new regulations will apply to mortgage and insurance intermediaries;
	(2)  if the new FSA powers will cover (a) residential mortgages, (b) commercial mortgages and (c) buy to let mortgages; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury will be publishing consultation papers in due course setting out the mortgage and general insurance activities that are to be regulated by the financial services authority. A broad timetable has been published on the Treasury website www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. No change is envisaged to the definition of a regulated mortgage contract that was set out in articles 61 to 63 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI2001/544) as amended by SI2001/3544. This means that, as before, regulation will be aimed at mortgages which put a person's home at risk.

UK GDP

Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the performance of the UK recorded in the Eurostat reports, Statistics in Focus, General Statistics, No. 1/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in the European Union 1999" and Statistics in Focus, General Statistics No. 2/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in Candidate Countries 1999"; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Eurostat report that UK GDP per capita was above the EU average in 1999. More recent Eurostat labour market data show the employment rates of all the countries and regions of the UK are above the EU average.
	The Government are committed to raising the rate of sustainable UK growth by improving employment and productivity in all regions. The Government's approach to achieving this is set out in detail in "Productivity in the UK:3—the Regional Dimension" published alongside PBR 2001 (Cm 5318).

Euro

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 438W, for what reasons he will not list the (a) officials, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers of his Department who are involved in the preliminary technical work for joining the euro; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 224W.

Euro

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, columns 438–39W, 
	(1)  if he will list the names of the members of the cross-party HM Treasury Euro-Preparations Committee; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which members of the cross-party HM Treasury Euro-Preparations Committee attended the meeting on 5 December 2001; what the agenda of the meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: All parliamentary parties are invited to nominate a representative to attend meetings of the Cross Party Group on Euro Preparations. Representatives from the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National party and the Ulster Unionist party attended. Minutes of the meeting on 5 December have been sent to those representatives who attended.

Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for a common prosecution policy for tax credit fraud and benefit fraud.

Dawn Primarolo: The prosecution policy for tax credits is an integral part of the published policy of the Board of the Inland Revenue for all its tax prosecutions. The approach to prosecutions taken by the Board of the Inland Revenue and the criteria they use in deciding whether to proceed criminally with a case are set out in this published statement. The criteria used by the Board of the Inland Revenue are similar in kind to those used by the Department for Work and Pensions when they decide whether to prosecute for benefit fraud.

Tax Returns (Electronic Filing)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of (a) individuals and (b) companies filed their tax returns electronically in 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 4 February 2002
	(a) 9.324 million tax returns were issued for the year ended 5 April 2001. Of these 324,296 individual tax returns were filed electronically.
	(b) No companies filed their corporation tax returns electronically. We do not currently have an electronic system for corporation tax returns.

Tax Costs

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the (a) yield of, (b) cost of collection of and (c) number of employees collecting (i) the climate change levy, (ii) the aggregates levy, (iii) inheritance tax, (iv) capital gains tax, (v) corporation tax, (vi) income tax, (vii) value added tax, (viii) excise duty, (ix) stamp duty, (x) customs duty and (xi) national insurance.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Inland Revenue's Annual Report contains an analysis of cost yield by tax head. No such analysis is maintained for indirect taxes, and Inland Revenue do not hold the analysis by staff numbers.
	Inland Revenue's Annual Report for year ending 31 March 2001 was laid in Parliament on 18 December 2001 as Command Paper 5304. Links to this and other key documents for the two Departments will be found at http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/about/index.htm and http://www.hmce.gov.uk/about/reports/reports.htm

Tax Costs

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies of tax compliance costs have been completed by the Inland Revenue since May 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The Inland Revenue has completed a considerable number of studies of tax compliance costs since May 1997. The most significant are: some 20 Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), the Bath Report on the tax compliance costs of PAYE and national insurance, and the UK approach to compliance cost assessment of tax changes at the Sydney 2000 International Tax Compliance Costs Symposium.

Inland Revenue (Informers)

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims for rewards by informers were made to Inland Revenue in each of the last three years ended 31 March 2001; of those claims, what proportion in each year resulted in payment of a reward; what the average length of time was between an informer's claim and Inland Revenue's payment of the reward; of those claims rejected, how many resulted in expression of dissatisfaction by the informer; where reward was made, how many payments resulted in expression of dissatisfaction by the informer; what target standards of service Inland Revenue sets out to meet as regards its dealings with informers; whether these have been met in the last three years ending 31 March 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: No details are recorded of the total number of claims made and, therefore, no details are available of the proportion rejected. Nor are details recorded of the total number of claimants dissatisfied at not being paid a reward.
	The Inland Revenue's customer service standards for its dealings with informers are the same as for its dealings with other customers. Targets and results are set out in the Inland Revenue annual reports available in the House of Commons Library. No figures are collated separately for dealings with informers.

Inland Revenue (Informers)

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to section 32 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890 and Inland Revenue's current practice, what is the process employed by Inland Revenue, from the point an informer makes a claim, oral or written, for a reward, leading to the payment of the reward to him/her; in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out; whether the Inland Revenue officer dealing with the claim may deny a reward upon his sole authority without appeal by the informer; in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out; in the case where an informer deals with the Special Compliance Office by virtue of IH 1295 but where the investigation is taken up by another office of Inland Revenue, whether it is a requirement that the Special Compliance officer dealing with the informer makes his own report of the informer's value to Inland Revenue in the matter; and in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out.

Dawn Primarolo: The Board of Inland Revenue has discretion to pay financial rewards to informers. There is no right of appeal against the exercising of that discretion.
	Reward payments are exceptional and are made only where information provided leads to a recovery of duty. It follows that no consideration as to whether to pay a reward can be made unless and until actions to recover duties are concluded. It also follows that where there is no recovery of duty there can be no reward payment and, therefore, no need for further consideration.
	If following the recovery of duty it is considered that a reward payment should be made, or where the informer claims that a payment should be made, the facts are reported to technical advisers at Inland Revenue Cross- Cutting Policy for consideration in line with guidance at IH 1295. There is no requirement as to who should make that report.

Labour Productivity

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 6 December 2001, Official Report, column 521W, on labour productivity, if he will make a statement on the recent reforms which will promote labour supply and improve the economy's long-term growth potential.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to paragraph 4.73 of the November 2001 pre-Budget report (Cm 5318). Further detail is available in "The Modernisation of Britain's Tax and Benefit System No. 6", published in March 2000.

Working Families Tax Credit

George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints he has received from (a) hon. Members and (b) members of the public about the loss of working families tax credit for people on sickness leave from their employment; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not hold the figures requested for complaints on this specific issue from either hon. Members or members of the public. Periods of sick leave during a working families tax credit (WFTC) award do not have any effect on the amount of tax credits payable, and do not count as being at work for the purpose of a new or renewal WFTC application.

Working Families Tax Credit

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2001, Official Report, columns 323–24W, on the working families tax credit, what the total value was of the 478 penalties imposed for false WFTC applications between October 1999 and September 2001.

Dawn Primarolo: Further work on the number of penalties attributable to working families tax credit investigations has shown that there were 507 for the period between October 1999 and September 2001. The total value of these penalties was £512,223.78.

Working Families Tax Credit

Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working families have (a) claimed and (b) been awarded the working families tax credit in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: No estimates are available for (a). For (b), I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 293W.

Public Sector Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage difference has been between the increase in public sector pay and private sector pay in each of the last five years.

Andrew Smith: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Public sector (percentage increase) Private sector (percentage increase) Difference (percentage) 
		
		
			 1997 2.3 5.1 -2.8 
			 1998 3.7 5.3 -1.6 
			 1999 3.9 5.0 -1.1 
			 2000 3.6 4.4 -0.8 
			 2001 5.4 3.9 1.5 
		
	
	The annual percentage increases are from the Average Earnings Index (published by ONS) for the 12 months to the end of November of each year.

Public Sector Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage increase in public sector pay has been in each of the last five years; and what the cost of that increase was.

Andrew Smith: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Public sector (percentage increase) Value of increase (£ billion) 
		
		
			 1997 2.3 2.09 
			 1998 3.7 3.45 
			 1999 3.9 3.86 
			 2000 3.6 n/a 
			 2001 5.4 n/a 
		
	
	Note:
	The percentage increases in public sector pay are from the Average Earnings Index, headline rate, for the 12 months ending November each year. The indication of the cost is derived by applying the percentages to the paybill for the public sector, which is the sum of the paybill for central and local government and of the paybill for public corporations.

Family Incomes

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) working families with children and (b) childless people in work had incomes below the tax threshold at the latest date for which information is available.

Dawn Primarolo: For 2000–01, the number of working families with children where there was no working adult with earned income above the personal tax threshold to be 700,000. The number of childless adults in work with income below the personal tax threshold is estimated to be 2,400,000.

Contingency Reserve

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his policy on the level of the contingency reserve in each of the next three years.

Andrew Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 297W.

Private Finance Initiative

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much money has been spent on external consultants in the tendering process of the Private Finance Initiative in each of the last four years (a) in real terms and (b) in cash terms, disaggregated by (i) legal fees, (ii) publicity costs, (iii) accountancy fees and (iv) management consultancy fees;
	(2)  what have been the running costs relating to the tendering process of the Private Finance Initiative in each year since its introduction (a) in real terms and (b) in cash terms disaggregated by (i) staff costs, (ii) information technology and (iii) other costs.

Andrew Smith: This information is not collected centrally. Information on PFI expenditure is published regularly in a form agreed by the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office, most recently in the financial statement and Budget report 2001.

Annuity Reform

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the consultation document on annuity reform.

Ruth Kelly: The joint Department for Work and pensions and Inland Revenue consultation document "Modernising Annuities" is published today. Copies are available in the Vote Office and in the Library. The Government will consider the responses carefully before deciding how to proceed.

Benefit Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to receive the Inland Revenue report on benchmarking the level of fraud in the working families tax credit; what his timetable is for responding to it; and if he plans to make public an assessment of the level of fraud following receipt of the report.

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has estimated the amount of fraud and error in (a) working families tax credit and (b) disabled persons tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue are currently analysing the data from their compliance benchmarking exercise. We shall be considering the results, and questions of publication, within the next few months.

Benefit Fraud

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2001, Official Report, column 197W, how many instances of potentially fraudulent or improper claims to tax credits have been communicated to the Inland Revenue via (a) the Benefits Anti Fraud Hotline and (b) the Childcare Tax Credit Hotline; and in each case how many of these reports have resulted in (i) the recovery of over payments, (ii) the imposition of penalties and (iii) prosecutions.

Dawn Primarolo: The table shows the number of allegations about potentially improper applications for working families tax credit (WFTC) and disabled person's tax credit (DPTC), communicated to the Inland Revenue through the Benefits Anti-Fraud Hotline and the Childminder's Hotline.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Allegations communicated to IR via Benefits Anti-Fraud hotline(11) 16,676 
			 WFTC/DPTC recoveries 530 
			 WFTC/DPTC penalties 18 
			 WFTC prosecutions 2 
			 Allegations communicated to IR via Childminder's hotline(12) 1,672 
			 WFTC/DPTC recoveries 4 
			 WFTC/DPTC penalties 0 
			 Prosecutions 0 
		
	
	(11) 1 October 1999 to 31 December 2001
	(12) April 2000 to 31 December 2001

Child Poverty

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan) of 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 980W, on child poverty, if he will set out the assumptions behind the statement that there are 1.2 million fewer children in poverty than there were in 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: As a result of personal tax and benefit measures announced in the last Parliament there are now 1.2 million fewer children living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the median (after housing costs) than there otherwise would have been.

Pension Schemes

Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on delays in making the annual payment to the pension schemes of those who have opted out of SERPS.

Dawn Primarolo: There are currently no delays in making the annual payments to the pension schemes of those who have opted out of SERPS.
	However, an IT server owned by the Inland Revenue which receives information from pension providers was decommissioned in error when an office move took place in April 2000 resulting in a delay in processing data on new personal pensions applications and terminations from existing personal pensions. This error is very much regretted.
	The Inland Revenue is currently checking the cases affected and expect to process all of them and make the delayed payments and recoveries of age-related rebates during February.
	New personal pension application and termination information is now being processed normally.

Gus O'Donnell

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who produced, and at what cost to his Department, the four cartoons released by his Department on 17 January 2002, in the selection of slides presented by Mr. Gus O'Donnell on 30 November 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The whole of Gus O'Donnell's presentation was produced within the Treasury, at no additional cost to the Department.

Gus O'Donnell

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons UK productivity growth was described as lacklustre in the slides presented by Mr. Gus O'Donnell at a seminar with students on 30 November 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The slide to which the hon. Gentleman refers shows a quadrant of possible risks to the Treasury's central forecast for the UK economy in 2002, and the reference to productivity growth appeared only in the worst case scenario.

Departmental Secondments

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 15 November 2001, Official Report, column 845W, on departmental secondments, if he will list the company employing each secondee in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Further to my answer of 15 November 2001, Official Report, column 845W, the number of people seconded into HM Treasury is listed in the table:
	
		
			 Company Number of employees 
		
		
			 National Audit Commission (NAO) 6 
			 Deloitte Touche 1 
			 Tidy Britain Group (Charity) 1 
			 Institute of Fiscal Studies 1 
			 Kent County Council 1 
			 Oxfam 1 
			 Pannell Kerr Foster Services 1 
			 Financial Services Authority (FSA) 3 
			 University of Bristol 1 
			 UBS Warburg 1 
			 Bank of England 2 
			 DaLASER (District Auditor) 1 
		
	
	More comprehensive details of people seconded into HM Treasury are available on our website.

Arthur Andersen

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contracts his Department has had since 1997 with (a) Arthur Andersen and (b) Accenture for (i) accountancy, (ii) audit and (iii) consultancy work; and what staff have been seconded (A) to his Department from and (B) from his Department to these firms.

Ruth Kelly: Since 1997 the Treasury has had two contracts with Arthur Andersen for consultancy work and none with Accenture. In line with Government policy these contracts were awarded following a competition. In the same period we have had three people seconded from Arthur Andersen to the Treasury, but none from Accenture. No Treasury staff have been seconded to the companies in question.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Parliament Square

Greg Knight: To ask the President of the Council what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues and others over proposals to pedestrianise part of Parliament Square; what steps he intends to take to ensure that right hon. and hon. Members are properly consulted about such proposals before work proceeds; and what assessment he has made of whether the proposals will cause disruption to right hon. and hon. Members when attending the House.

Robin Cook: In 1997, a steering group led by the Government Office for London and Westminster city council commissioned a master plan entitled "World Squares for All" prepared by Sir Norman Foster and a supporting team of professional firms. The aims of the master plan were to improve the setting of historic sites; reduce traffic congestion and make pedestrian movement safer and more pleasant; to improve bus services; and to improve street design.
	The study area covered Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square and Old Palace Yard. A public exhibition displaying the master plan options was launched by the Deputy Prime Minister in December 1997, and the exhibition material was subsequently displayed for Members of both Houses of Parliament in the Royal Gallery. The Accommodation and Works Committee was consulted at that time.
	From the results of the public consultation a preferred strategy was identified and the Government Office for London with Westminster city council began a feasibility study for just phase 1: Trafalgar Square.
	In February 2000, a Minister from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for London launched an exhibition and public consultation exercise on the Trafalgar Square proposals. 16,000 leaflets and questionnaires were distributed. The Greater London Authority took over the lead role later that year and they have recently let a contract to implement the Trafalgar Square works.
	Beyond the master plan of 1997, no planning has yet been done on future phases for Whitehall and Parliament Square. However, the Mayor has indicated interest in seeing future phases progress. The Director of Parliamentary Estates represents parliamentary interests in the World Squares for All Steering Group and will ensure that there is proper consultation if plans for Parliament Square do progress.

Parliamentary Television Service

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chairman of the Information Select Committee if he plans to facilitate the broadcast of proceedings of the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament on the parliamentary television service.

Michael Fabricant: The proceedings of the Welsh Assembly are already available on channel 22 of the television annunciators.
	The previous Information Committee took the view that consideration should be given to broadcasting the proceeding of the Scottish Parliament on the annunciators once there was an economic method of conveying the signal to Westminster. At present, unlike the proceedings of the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament is not broadcast by satellite and there are no plans to do so. House officials have been in regular discussion with their counterparts in the Scottish Parliament on this matter and will continue to keep it under review. In the meantime, there is a webcam service which can be seen at www.scottishparliamentlive.com.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Credit Card Fraud

Alan Hurst: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions were instituted by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales in respect of fraudulent credit card transactions by use of the Internet in 2001.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service does not collect statistics on prosecutions for particular offences.

DEFENCE

Low Flying

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints he has received regarding low flying military aircraft by constituency in the past year.

Lewis Moonie: Low flying complaints are not recorded by constituency. The hon. Member may, however, wish to be aware that in 2001 the number of individual complaints recorded by the Ministry of Defence Low Flying Complaints and Inquiries unit by unitary authority or county title was as shown in the table.
	
		
			 Wales Number 
		
		
			 Carmarthenshire 82 
			 Ceredigion 33 
			 Clwyd 8 
			 Denbighshire 3 
			 Dyfed 132 
			 Glamorgan 17 
			 Gwent 13 
			 Gwynedd 26 
			 Monmouthshire 13 
			 Pembrokeshire 61 
			 Powys 88 
			  
			 Total 476 
		
	
	
		
			 Scotland Number 
		
		
			 Aberdeenshire 42 
			 Angus 14 
			 Argyll and Bute 12 
			 Ayrshire 15 
			 Berwickshire 23 
			 Borders 77 
			 Central Scotland 19 
			 Clyde 23 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 171 
			 Fife 32 
			 Grampian 14 
			 Highlands 122 
			 Lanarkshire 12 
			 Lothian 51 
			 Moray 11 
			 Orkney 11 
			 Perthshire 32 
			 Rosshire 18 
			 Strathclyde 1 
			 Tayside 47 
			 Western Isles 3 
			  
			 Total 750 
		
	
	
		
			 England Number 
		
		
			 Buckinghamshire 35 
			 Cambridgeshire 113 
			 Cheshire 21 
			 Cleveland 6 
			 Cornwall 89 
			 Cumbria 168 
			 Derbyshire 22 
			 Devon 205 
			 Durham 14 
			 East Sussex 32 
			 East Yorkshire 13 
			 Essex 51 
			 Gloucestershire 126 
			 Greater Manchester 1 
			 Hertfordshire 15 
			 Humberside 18 
			 Isle of Man 1 
			 Kent 52 
			 Lancashire 21 
			 Leicestershire 13 
			 Lincolnshire 120 
			 London 12 
			 Manchester 1 
			 Merseyside 1 
			 Middlesex 3 
			 North Yorkshire 170 
			 Norfolk 275 
			 Northamptonshire 52 
			 Oxfordshire 76 
			 Rutland 1 
			 South Yorkshire 17 
			 Shropshire 66 
			 Somerset 243 
			 Staffordshire 33 
			 Suffolk 129 
			 Surrey 17 
			 Tyne and Wear 1 
			 West Yorkshire 33 
			 Warwickshire 22 
			 West Midlands 1 
			 West Sussex 65 
			 Wiltshire 107 
			  
			 Total 3,008 
		
	
	Although a number of the county, or unitary authority, boundaries have changed, complaints have been recorded by the address given by the correspondent. An additional 12 correspondents did not reveal an address when registering their complaint.Details of the pattern of military low flying activity by low flying area are included on the Ministry of Defence website under the address www.lowflying.mod.uk.

Throckmorton Airfield

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the ownership of land at Throckmorton airfield; and what plans his Department has for the disposal of this land (a) to the Home Office or its agencies and (b) through the privatisation of QinetiQ;
	(2)  what account was taken of the land and property at Throckmorton used by QinetiQ in the preparation for the privatisation of the agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what impact the construction of the proposed asylum accommodation centre at Throckmorton would have on (a) the activities of QinetiQ and (b) the other defence-related activities at the airfield.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 17 July 2001, Official Report, column 142W. Most of the Throckmorton site, formerly known as the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) Pershore, is now owned by QinetiQ. The remainder of the site, used last year to deal with some of the consequences of the foot and mouth outbreak, is in the final stages of being transferred to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
	As part of the PPP process, all activities carried out by DERA were reviewed, and those which did not need to be retained within Government were transferred to QinetiQ on 1 July 2001, including those carried out at Pershore. Legally enforceable safeguards are in place to ensure that QinetiQ continue to provide key strategic facilities and services required by the Ministry of Defence. Against this background the company is free to explore other business opportunities.
	The future provision of an accommodation centre for asylum seekers is the responsibility of the Home Office, and although QinetiQ's site at Pershore has been identified as a potential site, a final decision has yet to be made. Subject to consultation, with QinetiQ as landowner, the local planning authorities, and the local community, the final decision with regard to siting one of these centres at Pershore rests with the Home Secretary.

Research and Development

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure by his Department is on research and development; and how much of the total is spent in Scotland.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 February 2002
	In financial year 1999–2000 the Ministry of Defence spent £2,345 million net inclusive of VAT on research and development.
	I regret that it is not possible to state how much of that total figure represented expenditure in the United Kingdom or in Scotland since our data do not include a regional breakdown.

Research and Development

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding has been allocated in the current financial year for research and development in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland; what proportion of the Scottish total is given (i) to DERA's own research and (ii) research funded in academic and non-DERA sites; and if he will list the non-DERA sites.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The allocation for research in the Major Customers Research Budget is £502 million inclusive of VAT. This includes work undertaken by the Ministry of Defence, industry and universities.
	The MOD does not have an allocation for development as such. The development expenditure is budgeted for within the overall equipment programme allocation and does not fall into a separate budget. The amount that is quoted for statistical purposes, in any one year, is largely a consequence of the state of the procurement cycle at which major equipment projects happen to be in, in the year in question.
	I regret that it is not possible to state how much of the total research figure represents expenditure in the United Kingdom or in Scotland since our data do not include a regional breakdown. Since July 2001, DERA ceased to exist and under public-private partnership arrangements it has separated into QinetiQ, a wholly government- owned plc, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (DSTL).
	There are no available data which can provide a breakdown of research and development expenditure on MOD sites.

Service Pensions

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement listing the changes in tax legislation the interpretation of which has led to the mistaken tax treatment of some war disability pensions and service attributable pensions.

Lewis Moonie: The law on the tax exemption of wound and disability pensions awarded to service personnel first came into force in the Finance Act 1919. The relevant provisions have since been brought forward into the various consolidating Taxes Acts which have been introduced since then. The most recent consolidation Act was the Income and Corporation Taxes Act (ICTA) 1988 where the exemption can be found at section 315. A previous consolidation Act was passed in 1952 but this did not introduce or change this tax exemption.
	Following further discussion with the Inland Revenue, we are undertaking further work to establish precisely when the error was introduced. Meanwhile, we continue to consider approaches from pensioners, widows or their families who may have been affected by this error.

Service Pensions

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many retired armed service officers and their widows in (a) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) Hull have been identified as paying tax on retired pay awarded since 1952 on the grounds of disability attributable to or aggravated by service.

Lewis Moonie: Information on the number of Army Pensioners resident in the East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull who are so far known to have been incorrectly taxed on their invalidity pensions could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Tempest

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the complete work and modifications on the Tempest mine protected vehicles will cost; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Eight Tempest mine protected vehicles are being procured to replace the in-service Mamba. These vehicles are used for casualty evacuation and route proving operations where mines are present and provide high levels of protection from anti-tank/personnel mine blasts.
	Contract negotiations have yet to be concluded. I am therefore, withholding information about the cost of the programme in accordance with Exemption 7a(2) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to information whose disclosure would prejudice commercial or contractual activities.

Strategic Defence Initiative

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British universities have contracts awarded under the auspices of the 1985 Strategic Defence Initiative Memorandum of Understanding; and if he will list them.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence does not maintain a central record of all contracts let by the US Government with British universities under the Strategic Defence Initiative.

Mutual Defence Agreement

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) of 22 January 2002, Official Report, column 733W, on the Mutual Defence Agreement, what proportion of each of the total of visits by UK personnel to the United States under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement were undertaken to facilitate the transfer or exchange of military nuclear materials.

Lewis Moonie: Information on the number of visits since 1997 by UK personnel to the United States under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement which involved the exchange or transfer of military nuclear materials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Arthur Andersen

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what fees were paid to Arthur Andersen and Company for their work on the privatisation of DERA to QinetiQ.

Lewis Moonie: Payments to advisers such as Arthur Andersen in connection with the QinetiQ transaction are made under the terms of the relevant commercial contracts with these companies. It is Ministry of Defence policy not to release price information on individual contract values as this is commercial in confidence. This information is therefore withheld under Exemption 14 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Arthur Andersen

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answers of 8 January 2002 to the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne), Official Report, column 563W, on QinetiQ, on what date the contract for services in connection with the proposed flotation of QinetiQ was awarded to Arthur Andersen; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The contract with Arthur Andersen as reporting accountants on the public private partnership for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA PPP) was awarded on 25 October 2000. The requirement for reporting accountants was competed under normal Ministry of Defence contracting practices through the MOD Contracts Bulletin. Arthur Andersen won the competition as they were considered to provide best value for money in comparison with their competitors.

Army Pensioners (Cumbria)

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the number of Army pensioners who have lost income through the taxation EMV who are resident in (a) Cumbria and (b) the Workington constituency.

Lewis Moonie: Information on the number of Army pensioners resident in Cumbria and the Workington constituency who are so far known to have been incorrectly taxed on their invalidity pensions could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Employees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed in Scotland by (a) his Department and (b) executive agencies responsible to his Department; where these staff are located; and how many staff are employed in (i) England, (ii) London and the south-east, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) United Kingdom in total.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The latest figures for the number of Ministry of Defence Service and civilian personnel employed in Scotland (i) England, (ii) the south-east, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) the UK in total are published in the UK Defence Statistics 2001 (Table 2.4), copies of which are available in the Library of the House. A breakdown by location in Scotland is currently being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Research Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has awarded in research contracts by region in the most recent financial year.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 February 2002
	Gross expenditure outturn for the Ministry of Defence's major customers, research budgets and the Appropriation Accounts for financial year 2000–01, published on 23 November was £513.458 million. This sum includes research work placed with Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) but excludes technology demonstrator programmes, and loans and grants to DERA. It is not possible to provide a regional breakdown of research expenditure from available data.

Service Accommodation (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many single accommodation places exist for each of the services in Scotland for (a) officers and (b) other ranks, by location.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 February 2002
	I will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Getfitta Scheme

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role Ministers plan to play in the getfitta scheme launched on his Department's website.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The time to getfitta campaign, launched on 28 December 2001, is a corporate marketing PR campaign to raise awareness of the Territorial Army (TA) and act as a prelude to a new TA television advertising campaign in March 2002. The campaign is intended to raise awareness of, and interest in, the TA in advance of the March TV campaign, by encouraging principally young people to contact their local TA for help in getting fit, and encouraging those who are already fit to join the TA and take their fitness one step further. The campaign has been a great success and has received widespread and favourable media coverage. At the end of January, some 25,500 registrations have been achieved, which is double the expected number, 70 per cent. of them via the internet. In view of this success, no direct ministerial involvement is currently planned for the campaign.

Armed Forces (Medical Downgrades)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF were considered to be medically downgraded on 1 February, stating in each case the (i) number deployable to the front line, (ii) number deployable on military operations other than the front line, (iii) percentage of establishment this represents and (iv) percentage of trained forces in each service this represents; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Cleaner Coal Technology

Harry Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will publish the conclusions of her review into the case for Government support for cleaner coal technology demonstration power plant.

Brian Wilson: The report on the review has been published today. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library. The report can also be accessed from the DTI's website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/cct/ cctdemohome.htm

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on progress with the target on total overhead costs.

Melanie Johnson: The National Weights and Measures Laboratory first included this Ministerial target in 2000/01. In the Annual Report and Accounts for 2000/01 the National Weights and Measures Laboratory reported that overhead costs were 53.9 per cent. of total costs, meeting the target that overhead costs are less than 55 per cent. of total costs. Overhead charges are defined as the costs not allocated to a specific service area.

Minimum Wage

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employers in Stathkelvin and Bearsden constituency have breached the national minimum wage regulations.

Alan Johnson: The Inland Revenue enforce the national minimum wage on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry. They do not keep statistics for parliamentary constituencies. However, for Scotland as a whole, the number of employers found not to be complying with the national minimum wage legislation is:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1999–2000 103 
			 2000–01 183 
			 2001–02(13) 162 
		
	
	(13) Up to and including December 2001.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Police (Northern Ireland) Act

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance the Chief Constable has issued under section 51.2 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2002; how many officers have responded; and what information is being collected to construct the statistical information to be presented in the annual report of the Chief Constable under section 58 of the Act.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has not yet issued guidance under section 51(2) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, though work is in hand. Before issuing any guidance to police officers, the Chief Constable will consult the Policing Board, the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

PHOENIX Database

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information contained on the PHOENIX database is accessible by police in Northern Ireland; what authorisation is required for an officer to access this information; and what penalties are available to prosecuting authorities to deter unauthorised use.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has advised me that members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland who have completed the necessary training course, the majority of whom are with the Criminal Records Office, can directly access the PHOENIX Criminal Record System via the Police National Computer (PNC). The use of a unique, personal password is required.
	Authorised personnel can interrogate criminal records; access information on wanted or missing persons and impending prosecutions.
	Penalties for unauthorised access are detailed in the relevant legislation—section 60 of the Data Protection Act 1998 and sections 1 and 2 of the Computer Act 1990.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2002, Official Report, column 878W, how many plastic baton rounds are held for training and potential use by the PSNI.

Jane Kennedy: The Chief Constable has advised me that the current stock of plastic baton rounds is 69,148 of which 7,200 are currently held by PSNI Firearms Training.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Central Office of Information

Andrew Love: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will report on the outcome of the quinquennial review into the Central Office of Information.

Christopher Leslie: The quinquennial review of the Central Office of Information has shown that the COI has performed very well over the past five years. It has provided good value for money in its procurement, project management and strategic consultancy services.
	The COI will continue in its present status as a Department, an executive agency and a trading fund for a further five years.
	The review recommended two significant changes which will now be implemented to create two centres of excellence.
	The Chief Executive of COI will have an additional role as the Government's chief adviser on marketing communications and information campaigns reporting to the Director of Communications and Strategy at No 10. This will strengthen the co-ordination and planning of departmental publicity strategies across Whitehall and changes should be in place by 1 April 2002.
	COI's Regional News Network and its News Distribution Service will be transferred to the Government Information and Communication Service in the Cabinet Office. This will ensure more effective presentation of cross-departmental and regional issues while maintaining links with Government publicity and communications generally. It will also have stronger links with the Government offices in the regions to give a better service to both the regional media and the general public.
	The review also recognised the importance of the need for major research studies which tackle cross-cutting issues. COI communications is in the ideal position to undertake this role.
	I intend that these changes should be in place by 1 April 2002, supported by a revised Framework Document, which will be placed in the Library of the House.

PPP Contracts

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure that the terms of PPP contracts are in the public domain; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: holding answer 9 January 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	It is for Departments to decide what contractual information to publish. But we took steps in 1998 to encourage greater openness of PFI contractual information, with Treasury Taskforce Policy Statement No 4 on "Disclosure of Information and Consultation with Staff and Other Interested Parties". This publication, which is available on the Office of Government Commerce website, built on the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information produced by the Cabinet Office (Second Edition 1997) which said that:
	"the approach to release of information should in all cases be based on the assumption that information should be released . . . except where disclosure would not be in the public interest or would breach personal privacy or the confidences of a third party."

Departmental Payments (Euros)

Tom Cox: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Government Departments will, during the next 12 months, be paying costs for European services in euros.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	If a supplier wishes to invoice a Government Department in euro it can do. The Government Department does not take the exchange risk. The euro is treated just like any other major international currency.

Civil Servants

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of senior civil servants have held civil service posts based outside London.

Christopher Leslie: The information is not available in the form requested.
	At 1 April 2001, 39.9 per cent. of senior civil service posts were based outside London. Data are not collected centrally on the numbers of senior civil servants who have worked outside London in the past.

Ministerial Guidance (Energy Industry)

Tom Brake: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what guidance has been given by his Department to Government Departments and agencies since May 1997 with respect to (a) contacts between civil servants and representatives from, (b) sponsorship of Government Departments or events by, (c) secondees working within Government Departments from and (d) secondees from Government Departments to (i) BP, (ii) Shell, (iii) Exxon- Mobil, (iv) Enron, (v) Conoco, (vi) Texaco and (vii) TotalFinaElf; on what dates the guidance was issued; and if he will place related documentation in the Library;
	(2)  what guidance has been given by his Department to Government Departments and agencies since May 1997 with respect to civil servants seeking employment within (a) BP, (b) Shell, (c) Exxon-Mobil, (d) Enron, (e) Conoco, (f) Texaco and (g) TotalFinaElf; when the guidance was issued; and if he will place related documentation in the Library.

Christopher Leslie: Civil servants on secondment to the private and public sectors continue to be civil servants and are, therefore, governed by the requirements of the Civil Service Code. Individuals from the private and public sectors on secondment to the civil service are also subject to the requirements of the Civil Service Code for the duration of their appointment. Individuals are advised of the terms of their secondment in their letter of appointment.
	Civil servants wishing to take up employment outside the civil service are subject to the requirements of the Business Appointment Rules which are set out in full in the Civil Service Management Code.
	The Directory of Civil Service Guidance sets out guidance for civil servants on sponsorship of outside events and contacts with outside interest groups, including lobbyists. Copies of the Codes and Directory referred to in this answer are in the Library of the House.

PRIME MINISTER

Hammond Inquiry

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  under what circumstances official inquiries can be reopened;
	(2)  at whose request the Hammond Inquiry concerning the application for naturalisation by Mr. S. P. Hinduja was reopened; who gave authorisation for this reopening; and on what grounds.

Tony Blair: I have asked Sir Anthony Hammond to review his earlier conclusions as a result of further papers that have now come to light.

Hammond Inquiry

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what is the estimated cost to the public funds arising from the reopening of the Hammond Inquiry into the application for the naturalisation by Mr. S. P. Hinduja in 1998.

Tony Blair: It is not possible to provide a cost until the further work has been completed. However, the cost will be minimal.

Hammond Inquiry

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what role was played by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) special advisers in contributing to the story in the Sunday Times, edition 3 February, concerning the reopening of the Hammond Inquiry into the application for naturalisation by Mr. S. P. Hinduja.

Tony Blair: My press office responded to journalists' questions and confirmed the facts.

Hammond Inquiry

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what the terms of reference are for the reopened Hammond Inquiry; who will be able to give evidence to this inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: Sir Anthony Hammond QC has the following terms of reference:
	"To review the conclusions of his Inquiry into what approaches were made to the Home Office in connection with applications for naturalisation made by Messers SP and GP Hinduja with a view to determining whether further papers which were not previously available to the Inquiry but which have now come to light would have materially affected the conclusions reached."
	The decision on who to invite for interview is a matter for Sir Anthony Hammond.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Prime Minister what key issues he raised with the group of Afghan women on his recent visit to the region; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I met a group of Afghan women refugees in Pakistan on 7 January. They told me about the brutal repression they had faced in Afghanistan under the Taliban and their hopes for a better life in the new Afghanistan. I also met a group of Afghan women in the UK on 31 January at Downing Street.
	I also discussed the issues facing women in Afghanistan with Hamid Karzai, Chair of the Afghan Interim Administration, and Dr. Sima Samar, Vice-Chair and Minister for Women, during my visit to Afghanistan on 7 January, and their visit to London on 31 January. We agreed that education and training are key in restoring rights to women in Afghanistan. Mr. Karzai confirmed that getting girls back to school is an urgent priority for the Interim Administration.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Police Assessment

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he takes to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of chief constables and police authorities.

John Denham: holding answer 25 January 2002
	The Police Act 1996 requires Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to inspect and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of every police force in England and Wales. Where an inspection finds that a force is not efficient or effective, or is at risk of becoming so, the Home Secretary is empowered to require specific measures to be taken by the police authority.
	Under the Local Government Act 1999 police authorities are required to secure continuous improvement in the way in which their functions are exercised. Where the Secretary of State is satisfied that an authority is failing in its duties under the Act, he may direct the authority to take such action as he considers necessary.
	The White Paper "Policing a New Century" (CM 5326) set out the Government's intention to introduce a National Policing Plan, three year plans for police authorities, and a framework of Regulations, codes of practice and guidance. These and other measures are currently before Parliament in the Police Reform Bill. The new Standards Unit will also have a key role in performance and spreading best practice in the light of the proposed changes.

Police Service (Devon and Cornwall)

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many special constables there were in Devon and Cornwall constabulary in (a) 1992 and (b) 1997; and what the latest available figure is;
	(2)  how many special constables have left Devon and Cornwall Constabulary since 1997; how many have been recruited since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: Since 1997, 752 special constables have been recruited to Devon and Cornwall constabulary and 859 have left.
	Annual strength figures for the specified years are set out in the table:
	
		
			  Strength 
		
		
			 December 1992 946 
			 March 1997 1,148 
			 March 2001 804 
		
	
	Source:
	Figures for December 1992 provided by HMIC. Figures for March 1997 and 2001 provided by RDS.
	Home Office-funded research into the premature wastage of special constables, completed last year, found that the primary reasons for leaving were often external to the service. However, the research identified some underlying management factors contributing to the decision to resign.
	Recommendations aimed at reducing the wastage included making improvements to: the management structure within which specials operate; the quality of training provided locally; the flexibility of duties and hours offered and to local efforts to monitor and prevent wastage.
	The Government are committed to increasing the special constabulary and as part of the police reform process we are looking at radical improvements in the management, welfare and deployment of special constables.

Fingerprinting

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fingerprint experts have had training to deal with the non-numeric standard.

John Denham: All registered fingerprint experts are trained to be capable of dealing with the non-numeric standard. There are currently 1,470 police fingerprint experts on the fingerprint register in England and Wales.
	As part of the change to the evidential standard, the training programme for all fingerprint experts in England and Wales has been revised. All new fingerprint officers undergo the new modular training programme which incorporates the change from the previous 16 point standard. All fingerprint experts trained prior to 11 June have been made aware of these issues through their local bureau trainers.

Metropolitan Police

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Government plans to increase the number of officers in the Metropolitan police.

John Denham: The Government are committed to increasing police numbers and have set up the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) to enable forces to recruit 9,000 officers over and above previous plans in the three years to March 2003.
	The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has been allocated 2,044 recruits over the three years of the CFF. The number of police officers in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) within funding limits defined by government grant and council tax precept set by the Mayor and Greater London Assembly. The mayor has indicated that he proposes to increase the police precept to secure a significant increase in the total number of police officers in London. The actual number will depend on the result of the budget process within the MPA and GLA.
	I am advised by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis MPS that police officer recruitment to the Metropolitan police is at an all-time high with an average of over 1,100 applications received a month.
	The MPS has also benefited from the Home Office funded National Recruitment Campaign, from the provision of free rail-travel within a 70-mile radius of London and from the last year's £3,327 increase in London Allowance for officers recruited on or after 1 September 1994 and not in receipt of housing allowance.
	In addition, Metropolitan Police Officers will benefit from the starter home initiative through which about 550 London police officers and support staff will be helped to buy a first home over the next three years.

Metropolitan Police

Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers there are in the Metropolitan police; what the budgeted work force target is; and what the figures are for detective officers.

John Denham: holding answer 5 December 2001
	I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the budgeted work force total for 2001–02 is 26,254 and on 31 December 2001 the actual strength of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was 25,994.
	I am also told that the budgeted work force total for detectives for 2001–02 is 5,439 and the actual detective strength on 31 December 2001 was 4,228. The MPS is actively recruiting towards its budgeted work force total.

Police White Paper

David Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations he has received from members of the police force regarding the Home Office White Paper; and how many of these express concerns about the impact on retention and recruitment in the police force.

John Denham: The White Paper invited comments by 21 January 2001. We received approximately 1,100 representations, of which the vast majority were from police officers. We are still considering representations and will place a summary in the Library.

Police Officers

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy on the award of early pensions on medical grounds to serving police officers.

John Denham: Last month the Police Negotiating Board agreed in principle ways to deliver a fair and more consistent approach towards early retirement due to ill health, so that forces can ensure wherever possible that officers continue in employment where they are capable of performing sufficient duties to make their retention operationally justifiable. This should enable forces to reduce the level of ill-health retirement still further and match the performance of the best quartile of forces by 2005.
	In the White Paper the Government also announced that they will establish a national occupational health strategy for the police service, which should assist forces to manage cases of ill health more effectively at the outset.

Revenue Support Grant

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the category and amount of each item of funding outside the revenue support grant which his Department made available to (a) Westminster city council and (b) Kensington and Chelsea in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02.

Angela Eagle: The information is given in the table. The grants included are those paid solely to the councils except in the case of Drug Action Teams, the Crime Reduction Programme and the Partnership Development Fund. In those cases, the council is a member of a partnership and funding is allocated to one or more of the partners, for the benefit of the partnership as a whole.
	
		£ 
		
			   2000–01  2001–02(14)  
			  Kensington and Chelsea Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Westminster 
		
		
			 Drug Action Teams 
			 Development Grant 35,782 37,484 35,782 37,484 
			 Communities Against Drugs — — 31,497 31,497 
			  
			 Crime Reduction Programme and Partnership Development Fund 176,582 384,149 — 1,214,250 
			 Adult and Family Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking children 11,242,108 12,751,486 — — 
			 Referral Order Pilots 59,791 62,000 62,000 62,000 
			 Communities Against Drugs — — 199,400 277,800 
		
	
	(14) Estimated

Child Curfew Orders

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which the issue of child curfew orders is appropriate.

John Denham: holding answer 18 January 2002
	We are ready to consider applications from local authorities or the police to set up local child curfews where:
	an area has been identified which has a particular problem of antisocial or criminal behaviour at night by unsupervised under 16-year-olds
	the local community has been consulted, in the way set out by statute
	the proposed curfew is necessary and proportionate to prevent crime and disorder.

Correspondence

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what target has been set for responding to hon. Members' letters to the Immigration Department.

Angela Eagle: The Home Office's published service delivery agreement for 2001–04 commits all Home Office Directorates, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), to replying to 95 per cent. of public correspondence within 20 working days and 95 per cent. of ministerial correspondence within 15 working days by the end of 2001–02. Improving performance against published targets for dealing with correspondence is recognised as a priority for IND as part of the wider Home Office programme to modernise business processes and information management.
	IND has dedicated resources to improve the service provided to MPs on casework related correspondence.

Correspondence

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to provide a substantive reply to the letter of 25 September from the hon. Member for Christchurch about alcohol and under-age drinkers.

John Denham: holding answer 18 January 2002
	I wrote to the hon. Member, in reply to his letter, on 30 January 2002.

Crime (Coventry)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to combat gang violence and the gang culture in young people (a) in Coventry and (b) in the UK.

John Denham: holding answer 21 January 2002
	Reducing all aspects of youth crime, including gang violence where this occurs, is a key priority within the Government's crime reduction programme. Our approach in all areas is to support the police, crime reduction partnerships and the Youth Offending Teams in developing effective local solutions. In addition, we have introduced a wide programme across Government including Youth Inclusion Programmes and Summer Splash schemes.
	The Youth Inclusion Programme in Coventry includes organised intensive workshops and group discussions about group/peers behaviour, designed to provide young people with opportunity to voice their concerns and experiences of gang culture.

Burglary

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the detection rate for offences of burglary.

John Denham: The detection rates for all recorded crimes of burglary, and the numbers of recorded burglaries, for the last four years for England and Wales as a whole are given in the table.
	
		
			  Detection rate (percentage) Number of recorded burglaries 
		
		
			 1997 23 1,015,075 
			 1998–99(15) 19 953,184 
			 1999–2000(16) 13 906,468 
			 2000–01 12 836,027 
		
	
	(15) There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998 which placed a greater emphasis on counting crimes in terms of numbers of victims. Numbers of recorded crimes and detection rates after this date are therefore not directly comparable with previous years.
	(16) There was a change in the rules for counting detections in April 1999, the new instructions providing more precise and rigorous criteria for securing a detection, with the underlying emphasis on the successful result of a police investigation. For example, detections obtained by the interview of a convicted prisoner were no longer included. Numbers of detections before and after this date are not directly comparable.

Jamie Nicol Connolly

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  for what reason Jamie Nicol Connolly was refused entry to the United Kingdom at Heathrow on 26 October 2001; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations he has received regarding the refusal to allow Jamie Nicol Connolly from Canada leave to enter the United Kingdom at Heathrow on 26 October 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: I wrote to the hon. Member on 5 February 2002 about this matter.

Voluntary Sector Compact

Michael Jabez Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the second annual meeting to review the compact on relations between the Government and the voluntary and community sector.

Angela Eagle: The second annual meeting to review the compact took place on 29 October 2001. A report of the meeting has been placed in the Library.
	I am pleased to say that both the sector and Government welcomed progress made on developing the compact. The focus of Government and sector activities since the launch of the national compact in November 1998 has been the development of the five underpinning codes of good practice on funding; consultation and policy appraisal; black and minority ethnic organisations, and volunteering and community groups.
	The annual review meeting recognised and agreed that implementation of compact principles and the spreading of good practice must be the future focus of compact activities. Implementation will be about ensuring that there is a practical and positive impact on Government/ sector relations at all levels, particularly at local and community level. There is more to do and the sector and Government will need to continue to work in partnership to achieve our shared aims.

Animal Procedures Committee

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he proposes to reappoint Professor Michael Banner as Chairman of the Animal Procedures Committee.

Angela Eagle: Professor Banner completed his first four year term as Chairman of the Animal Procedures Committee on 31 January 2002. I am grateful to him for his work in leading this important committee, and am pleased that he has accepted another four year term as Chairman.

National Identity Card

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing a national identity card.

David Blunkett: I have made no estimate of the cost of introducing a national identity card.
	The Government are considering whether a universal card which allowed people to prove their identity more easily and provided a simple way to access a range of public services would be beneficial. Such an entitlement card scheme could also help to combat illegal working and could reduce fraud against individuals, public services and the private sector.
	In reply to another question from my hon. Friend today, I have announced that the Government intend to publish a consultation paper in the spring or early summer. Work on the cost of an entitlement card scheme will be progressed in the run up to the publication of the consultation paper. This work is not yet sufficiently developed to make an estimate of costs.

National Identity Card

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received on a national identity card.

David Blunkett: After the terrorist atrocities in the United States of America on 11 September, the issue of introducing an identity card scheme was raised by many people. I have received over 600 letters from right hon. and hon. Members and members of the public on identity cards since September 2001.
	At the time the Government said that we were not planning to introduce an identity card scheme as part of our response to the events of 11 September, but that the policy was being kept under review. We said that we were considering whether a universal entitlement card which would allow people to prove their identity more easily and provide a simple way to access public services would be beneficial. We also said that a scheme could help to combat illegal working and it could also reduce fraud against individuals, public services and the private sector.
	We have made it clear that the introduction of an entitlement card would be a major step and that we will not proceed without consulting widely and considering all the views expressed very carefully.
	There are many arguments—both philosophical and practical—for and against a scheme. One of the options which the Government have already ruled out is making the failure to carry an entitlement card an offence. However there are a range of other issues to explore and we intend to publish a consultation paper in the spring or early summer. This will cover the whole issue of identity fraud and a range of possible responses in the short, medium and long-term including the advantages and disadvantages of an entitlement card scheme—but also other measures which might be taken to improve the security of existing forms of identification issued by the Government.
	In order to ensure that the paper will be balanced and comprehensive and present to the public as full a picture as possible, the Government wish to discuss its emerging ideas with interested parties prior to publication.

Murder Trial Witnesses

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the practice is in regard to the provision of holidays and other benefits given to witnesses in murder trials by the (a) police and (b) prosecuting authorities.

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the practice is in regard to the provision of holidays and other benefits given to witnesses in murder trials by the (a) police and (b) prosecuting authorities.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	There is no distinct provision for holidays or other benefits given to witnesses in murder trials by the police or prosecuting authorities.
	However, where the court necessarily lists a case for trial when a witness is due to be on holiday then some provision can be made to compensate the witness for any loss incurred by way of a financial loss allowance. Alternatively, arrangements can be made to return a witness from holiday to attend court.

Air-guns

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from ACPO regarding the Brocock Air Cartridge pistol; and what action he has taken.

John Denham: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) drew particular attention to the problems associated with this type of air weapon last July when they asked for the definition of "readily converted" under the terms of section 1(6) of the Firearms Act 1982 to be revised. But, this section only applies to imitation firearms and could not be used in respect of air cartridge pistols which are already defined as firearms (although not subject to certification). We have been consulting further with the Forensic Science Service who in turn have been liaising with the police in order to establish the full extent and nature of the problem. This has confirmed the ease with which these weapons can be converted to fire cartridge ammunition. This is wholly unacceptable and the company concerned has decided not to import these weapons pending a fully informed decision on what should be done either by way of further modification to the weapons or changes in existing controls.

People Trafficking

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to legislate on trafficking people; and if the Government will incorporate the definition set out in the European framework.

Bob Ainsworth: Effective legislation to criminalise and punish trafficking in human beings is an essential component of any strategy to tackle this crime. Such a strategy must also encompass effective enforcement, alongside support and assistance for victims, prevention and education.
	United Kingdom Ministers were among the first to sign the Trafficking Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime and are committed to implementing its measures, one of which is the introduction of trafficking offences. The European Union Framework Decision on trafficking in human beings has been provisionally agreed by the Justice and Home Affairs Council and will be formally adopted by the Council as a legally binding document in the near future.
	We will introduce legislation on the trafficking offences as soon as parliamentary time permits and will ensure that it meets the requirements necessary to implement the European Union Framework Decision.

Police Training (Street Patrols)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the minimum time period for elementary training of a police recruit before he or she is permitted to take part in a street patrol.

John Denham: holding answer 29 January 2002
	Police recruits undertake supervised street patrol with a tutor constable on completion of their initial training, normally after 20 weeks' service and follows their foundation training course (15 weeks at National Police Training, and 18 weeks at Hendon for the Metropolitan police). This training equips recruits with the knowledge and skills to perform the full range of police duties, and is consolidated through further training in force during the remainder of the probationary period of two years. Most recruits are considered ready for unsupervised street patrol after 32 weeks' service.

Football

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answers of 25 January 2002 of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Central (Mr. Caborn), Official Report, column 1112W, on football, if he will draw the attention of the Football Association to the Football (Disorder) Act 2000 in respect of its application to footballers and club officials; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: It is for the police and courts to enforce the measures introduced by the Football (Disorder) Act 2000 and the responsibility of the football authorities to determine whether or not to impose sporting sanctions in respect of player misbehaviour. The football authorities are aware that players are not exempt from the law of the land.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional security measures are planned by his Department to deter and detect theft and fraud.

Angela Eagle: The Home Office has a wide ranging set of procedures and/or plans to deter and detect theft and fraud:
	Fraud Strategy
	An updated Home Office Fraud Strategy, Policy and Response Plan is in the final stages of consultation before being promulgated across the Office.
	Existing advice and guidance on fraud and theft is formally documented.
	Whistle-blowing
	A documented departmental policy already exists and conforms to Cabinet Office guidance.
	Risk Management
	A Home Office Risk Management Team is now firmly established.
	It is facilitating a risk management programme across the office.
	Annual Systems Assurance Statements (ASAS)
	A system of annual assurance statements operates with the purpose of providing an assurance to the Departmental Accounting Officer (DAO) from delegated budget holders on the adequacy and effectiveness of their systems of internal financial control.
	As part of ASAS 2001 Directors signed up to specific statements on counter-fraud and corporate governance and risk management, respectively.
	Corporate Governance Assurance Statements (CGAS)
	CGAS reports are provided to the DAO by the Accounting Officers (AOs) of the Prison Service, Forensic Science Service and the Passport Records Agency.
	Internal Control—Audit and Assurance Unit (AAU)
	The Chief Internal Auditor provides an assurance to the DAO on the corporate governance framework and systems of internal control in the financial and operational systems across the wider Home Office through the internal audit programme which is based on an analysis of risk and priority.
	In undertaking this work auditors consider the risk of fraud and report on this, as appropriate.
	A high proportion of internal audit resource is dedicated to the Home Office's key financial systems and the Department's Agencies and NDPBs.
	Internal Control—Other
	Staff are expected to comply with the Finance Manual and other procedures that are issued by Accounts Branch from time to time.
	Members of staff are not allowed to accept gifts, hospitality or benefits in kind as these could lead to a perception of a conflict of interest and/or of impropriety and guidance on this is available in the Staff Handbook.
	Service level agreements between Directors/Chief Executives and the Departmental Security Officer underline the importance of protecting valuable assets and this is reinforced through security awareness training and publicity campaigns.
	Staff are encouraged to lock away items such as lap-tops, mobile telephones and personal valuables.
	Where there are guard patrols out of hours, guards are asked to check for unprotected assets and make them safe. This is reinforced by random sweeps by the Departmental Security Unit.
	Authority to remove equipment is given by Heads of Unit and checked on exit by guards. There are also random checks of vehicles on exit.

Departmental Salary Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 will be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions.

Angela Eagle: Following the winter supplementary estimate, the total departmental expenditure limit for the Home Office stood at £9,862,267,000.
	Salary and pension costs accounted for £1,702,987,000 or 17.25 per cent. of the department expenditure limit.

Passports

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many increases there have been in the cost of passports in the past 10 years; and what those increases have been.

Angela Eagle: There have been four increases to the cost of passports in the past 10 years. In November 1992, March 1998, December 1999 and the last recent increase in January of this year. The increases are as follows:
	Fee increase November 1992
	The adult fee increased by £3 from £15 to £18.
	The child fee also increased by £3 from £15 to £18, but with a free renewal provided after five years.
	Fee increase March 1998
	The adult fee increased by £3 to £21.
	The child fee became £11 for a five year issue, replacing the £18 fee for a 10 year issue which was then renewed free of charge after five years.
	Amendments increased by £6 to £11.
	Jumbo passports increased by £4 to £31.
	An additional counter fee of £10 was introduced.
	Fee increase December 1999
	The adult fee increased by £7 to £28.
	The child fee increased by £3.80 to £14.80 and became compulsory.
	Amendments increased by £6 to £17.
	Jumbo passports increased by £7 to £38.
	The additional counter fee increased by £2 to £12.
	Fee increase January 2002
	The adult fee increased by £2 to £30.
	The child fee increased by £1.20 to £16.
	Amendments increased by £1 to £18.
	Jumbo passports increased by £2 to £40.
	The additional counter fee increased by £3 to £15.
	The fee for a collective passport, for organised trips for schools and youth groups increased by £2 to £42.
	Two new services were also introduced in January of this year. A one week guaranteed service now costs an additional £15 and a same day premium service, an additional £30.

Prison Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether additional financial commitments for the Prison Service resulting from the Prison Service pay review will be met through additional central Government funding; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 1 February 2002
	This award will be contained within existing departmental expenditure limits. It will be funded by an adjustment to current Prison Service spending plans in the latter part of 2001–02 and during 2002–03. For example, some maintenance of the prison estate will be re-scheduled to take place later. Efficiency savings made from the wider Home Office budget will also contribute to the cost. Prison Service funding for 2003–04 onwards will be determined by the 2002 Spending Review process.

Non-Human Primates

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in (a) establishing an EU register of non-human primates in breeding, supply and research establishments and (b) enforcing minimum standards of housing and care across member states; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 4 January 2002
	We understand that the European Commission has no plans at present to establish such a register.
	The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate monitors the implementation of minimum standards, as set out in published codes of practice, for the housing and care of animals bred, supplied and used for scientific procedures in designated establishments in Great Britain. Standards in designated Northern Ireland establishments are similarly monitored under separate inspection arrangements.
	We are unable to comment on enforcement of minimum standards of housing and care in European Union (EU) states other than the United Kingdom, (UK) as set out in Annexe A of Directive 86/609/EEC, as that is not the responsibility of the UK Government.
	The Home Office is playing a leading role in discussions within the Council of Europe that are expected to determine future, improved European provisions for the accommodation of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.

Non-Human Primates

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps have been taken to ensure that non-designated overseas breeding and supply establishments of non-human primates supplying the UK are complying with the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals in Designated Breeding and Supply Establishments; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how often non-designated overseas breeding and supply establishments of non-human primates supplying the UK are inspected in person by members of the Home Office Inspectorate; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many wild-caught non-human primates, by (a) species and (b) purpose of procedure, are in UK facilities designated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 24 January 2002
	The Home Office does not maintain a register of stock held at designated establishments, but there are no current project licences in force for the use of wild caught non-human primates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
	Non-designated overseas breeding and supply establishments do not comply fully with the provisions of the United Kingdom (UK) Code of Practice, which are considered by many to be the most stringent in the world. Overseas breeders who wish to supply animals for use in the United Kingdom are, however, expected to comply with the guidelines issued by the International Primate Society, and are visited by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate, both prior to acceptance to supply non-human primates for use in the United Kingdom, and periodically thereafter.
	Two sets of visits to particular overseas breeding and supply establishments were undertaken in the period October to December 2001. In addition all establishments currently supplying the UK have been visited during the last three years.

Non-Human Primates

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what grounds the ban on the use of great apes in research and testing in the UK was made; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 4 January 2002
	In announcing, in November 1997, that the Government would not allow the future use of great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, pygmy gorillas, and orang-utans) as laboratory animals, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary explained that this was a matter of morality. The cognitive and behavioural characteristics and qualities of these animals are such that it is unethical to treat them as expendable for research.
	This policy was set out in the Supplementary Note to the Home Secretary's response to the Animal Procedures Committee interim report on the review of the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Copies of this document were deposited in the Library.

Immigration Appeals

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the maximum delay he allows between the Secretary of State receiving appeal decisions under rule 15(2) and 16(5), and 18(9A) and 19(6) amended by SI 4014 (L.31) 2001 and serving them on the appellants.

Angela Eagle: We anticipate that almost all determinations received by the Home Office under these rules will be served within 48 hours. The remainder will be served within a further period which would exceed six weeks only in exceptional circumstances.

Immigration Appeals

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the new arrangements for service of appeal decisions under rules 15(2), 16(5), 18(9A) and 19(6) will come into operation.

Angela Eagle: The new arrangements came into operation on 7 January 2002.

Exceptional Leave to Remain

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to come to a decision on the recommendation of the adjudicator on 17 October 2000, relating to the possibility of exceptional leave to remain being given to Mr. Mustaf Uka, his wife and children (Home Office Reference U48661 and Port Reference BDD/00/10800).

Angela Eagle: It is most regrettable that this case was not actioned earlier and that Mr. Uka's solicitor did not receive responses to their correspondence. A caseworker will now make a decision in this case as a matter of priority and notify the solicitor accordingly.

Exceptional Leave to Remain

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals were granted exceptional leave to remain in the UK in 2001.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 28 January 2002
	Between January and September 2001, inclusive, 15,060 grants of exceptional leave to remain were made. This figure refers to principal applicants only, and is provisional. Annual figures for 2001 are not yet available.
	Information on asylum applications and initial decisions are published quarterly. The next publication will present data for the final quarter of 2001, and will be available from 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Immigration Service Personnel

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what disciplinary measures are in place for Immigration Service personnel who do not treat visa applicants with a basic level of courtesy; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The Home Office, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, has clear procedures to be followed whenever there is an allegation of misconduct.
	High standards of courtesy and professionalism are expected of all Immigration Service staff when carrying out official duties. Any complaint that there has been a failure to meet these requirements is treated very seriously, and if substantiated could result in disciplinary action.
	The Immigration Service Complaints Unit has national responsibility for arranging and overseeing the formal investigation of allegations of misconduct or inefficiency made against Immigration Service personnel or other staff contracted to carry out work on behalf of the service. Written allegations of discourtesy are investigated in accordance with the formal complaint procedures. Verbal complaints about the conduct of staff are normally dealt with on the spot by a supervising officer.
	The formal complaint procedures are monitored by the Complaints Audit Committee (CAC), an independent body appointed by the Immigration Minister.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment was made of the advantages and disadvantages of (a) rural and (b) urban sites for the proposed asylum accommodation centres.

Angela Eagle: No final decisions have been taken on the locations of any trial accommodation centres and an assessment of each potential site on its individual merits will be made in due course.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on local public services, with specific reference to (a) health and (b) police, of the construction of a new asylum accommodation centre.

Angela Eagle: In making final decisions on preferred sites, we will take all the relevant factors into account including those to which the hon. Member refers. These assessments have not yet been made.

Asylum Accommodation Centres

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when work began on identifying the possible sites for the proposed asylum accommodation centres.

Angela Eagle: The Home Office began to identify possible sites for the trial centres following my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's statement to the House on 29 October 2001.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are made for members of the public to visit the offices handling visa applications.

Angela Eagle: The Immigration and Nationality Public Enquiry Office based in Croydon provides a fast track service for all straightforward applications for further leave and indefinite leave to remain combined with an urgent return of passport facility. All callers are seen on the day. Three other regional inquiry offices based in Liverpool, Birmingham and Glasgow offer a more restricted service in terms of opening hours and the type of applications they are able to consider.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will announce to Parliament when the average time taken for completing applications for student visas has reached his target figure of three weeks.

Angela Eagle: We aim to decide 70 per cent. of all new general and settlement applications within three weeks. We are working hard to achieve this as soon as possible. Information on the Immigration Nationality Directorate website will be regularly updated to reflect the current position. This will also be included in information provided by the Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau and in letters acknowledging receipt of applications.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what changes are being introduced to improve the administration of the issuing of student visas;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the extra time required to reduce the backlog of work in which the Department processes one year student visas.

Angela Eagle: We are making best use of current resources and looking at options for additional staff in order to reduce the time taken to process new general immigration cases and to reduce the backlog of such cases, including those made by overseas nationals who are studying in the United Kingdom. We aim to reduce the turnaround time for new straightforward applications to three weeks as soon as possible.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue guidance to staff dealing with student visas on the importance of providing a fast, efficient and courteous service.

Angela Eagle: All staff are aware of the need to carry out their duties in a professional manner. Performance is continually monitored by management who would take appropriate action to remedy any weaknesses. Any allegations of inefficiency or discourtesy will be fully investigated.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is given to staff who deal directly with the public who visit the visa issuing office.

Angela Eagle: All staff within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate posted to the Public Enquiry Office in Croydon receive induction training on joining the service, plus a further two weeks of immigration rules based modular training. Additionally, during their initial six to eight weeks they are mentored by experienced public counter officers. All elements of the training focus on providing a fast, fair and professional service to the public.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the processing of one year student visas will achieve the target of completion in three weeks for 70 per cent. of applications.

Angela Eagle: As a result of the measures being taken we expect significant progress to have been made in deciding 70 per cent. of all new immigration applications within three weeks by the spring.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 January 2002, Official Report, columns 550–51W, on visas, how he will calculate the average waiting time to process a one year student visa when applications are decided within three weeks.

Angela Eagle: We would expect the majority of student applications to be decided within three weeks. However, we are introducing a casework information database which, when fully operational, will enable us to monitor our performance on general immigration casework more effectively.

Visas

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training staff receive in answering telephone queries on visa applications.

Angela Eagle: Staff attend a 10-day training course in the Immigration Rules before joining the Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau (INEB). They then join a mentoring programme in INEB where they progress from listening to calls with experienced members of staff to taking a number of calls with a mentor listening in.
	When their mentor and the new agent feel they are ready they are listened in to by a senior mentor and their line manager before they are allowed to take calls without another member of staff listening in. The length of time this takes varies from person to person and can take between 10 days and several weeks. Also, agents receive regular mentoring and training on all aspects of the Immigration Rules throughout their time in INEB.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans NASS has to exclude the children of asylum seekers from mainstream education; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary said in his statement to the House on 29 October that the new Accommodation Centres would offer education facilities. We are working with key stakeholders to establish the range of such facilities that will be available to children in the trial centres.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long NASS placed asylum seekers in the Landmark Tower buildings in Liverpool.

Angela Eagle: The National Asylum Support Services has one contract with the Landmark Company and this came into effect on 3 April 2000. Asylum seekers were dispersed to the Landmark Tower buildings from 3 April 2000 but dispersals to that location were suspended in early July 2001 and have not yet resumed.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to respond to (a) telephone inquiries and (b) written inquiries on applications for asylum.

Angela Eagle: The National Asylum Support Service deals with applications for support from asylum seekers.
	The information requested is not currently available.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to process a claim for emergency accommodation under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Angela Eagle: National Asylum Support Service (NASS) does not process claims for emergency accommodation. Emergency accommodation is provided by the voluntary sector agencies under contract to NASS.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans NASS has to extend the deadline for appeal against a NASS decision to (a) refuse and (b) withdraw support from asylum seekers.

Angela Eagle: Following representations from the Chief Asylum Support Adjudicator, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) decided to review the Asylum Support Appeals (Procedure) Rules 2000. No timetable has yet been set for this review, but we hope to complete it this year.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants who have been offered dispersal placements outside London have declined the offer of support in each of the last six months.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.
	It is not currently possible to track the number of National Asylum Support Service (NASS) cases where the asylum seeker has refused the offer of accommodation in the cluster areas.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful asylum applicants have been removed in each of the last six calendar months.

Angela Eagle: The number of asylum seekers who were removed from the United Kingdom in the six months to September 2001 is given in the table. Information more recent than September is not yet available.
	
		
			 Month Total asylum seekers(17) removed(18),(19) Principal applicants removed(18),(19) Dependants removed(18),(19) 
		
		
			 April 830 780 55 
			 May 915 870 45 
			 June 840 730 115 
			 July 920 795 125 
			 August 930 835 100 
			 September 890 760 135 
		
	
	(17) Persons who had sought asylum at some point.
	(18) Provisional figures, rounded to the nearest five. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	(19) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under the Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM).
	Information on the number of asylum removals in the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2001 will be published on 28 February 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time has been over the last six months that NASS has taken to process an application for asylum; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) deals with applications for support from asylum seekers. The information requested is currently unavailable. A project is currently under way to set up a procedure for calculating the time taken by NASS to process applications.

Asylum Seekers

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to involve asylum-seeking children and young people in the consultation on the forthcoming asylum White Paper.

Angela Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan) on 4 February 2002, Official Report, column 67W.

Citizenship Application

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the application for citizenship made by Mrs. Mehar of Southend, which was acknowledged by the IND of 28 February 2001, Reference M1103724CQ, to be determined; and if he will invite the IND to remove from such acknowledgments the phrase passed to a case worker who will contact you shortly.

Angela Eagle: Mrs. Mehar's application was received on 15 December 2000. It has now reached its turn for consideration and she has been asked to submit documentary evidence to confirm her eligibility for naturalisation as a British citizen. Once consideration has begun, decisions are normally made within six months.
	The wording of the acknowledgment letter has already been amended to reflect changes in the way naturalisation cases are handled.

Immigration Office, Croydon

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department If he will make a statement on the delays involved in the treatment of post received at the Immigration Office, Croydon.

Angela Eagle: We aim to decide 70 per cent. of all new general and settlement cases within three weeks and met this for the first half of 2001. But because of the exceptionally high number of applications received and the introduction of process changes, it has recently been taking up to eight weeks to consider new applications. We are working to reduce this to three weeks or less as soon as possible.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Investors in People

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent consultations she has held with the Learning and Skills Council and other interested parties concerning the future financing and delivery of Investors in People.

John Healey: holding answer 29 January 2002
	There is regular on-going consultation between my Department, the Learning and Skills Council, Small Business Service and Investors in People (IiP) UK about the future financing and delivery of Investors in People.
	On 21 January 2002, in accordance with the Government's policy of conducting quinquennial reviews of all non-departmental public bodies, my Department started a review of Investors in People (IiP) UK. Following Cabinet Office guidelines, the terms of reference for the first stage of the review are:
	to review the role and functions of Investors in People UK as outlined in its remit letter, and the efficiency and effectiveness with which they have been carried out, and how these functions contribute to the delivery of wider DfES and Government objectives.
	to consider the continuing relevance and likely need for these functions in the future and whether there is a need for any reductions or expansion of these functions.
	to consider whether continued non-departmental public body status is the best way of delivering these functions or whether some, or all, of the functions could be delivered more efficiently and effectively through other means eg privatisation, contracting out, rationalisation or merger with other bodies.
	to consider what IiP UK's customers, end users of the Standard and other key stakeholders think about its role, performance and responsiveness to their needs.
	We welcome comments on those matters to be covered by the review from all those with an interest in the work of IiP UK. Comments which may be made public unless respondents specifically request otherwise, should be sent by 8 March 2002 to:
	Jan Gibbons
	Department for Education and Skills
	W8c Moorfoot
	Sheffield S1 4PQ
	Or by e-mail to janice.gibbons@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
	I have asked that the first stage of the review should be completed by spring 2002.

Schools (Harwich)

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new primary and secondary schools were opened in the Harwich constituency between 1979 and 1997; and what proposals have been made for building new schools within the Harwich constituency since 1997.

John Healey: Reliable information is not available on the number of new primary and secondary maintained schools opened prior to 1996. Since 1996, proposals have been made to establish one new maintained school in the Harwich constituency. The new community secondary school is expected to open on 1 September 2002 in Clacton.
	We do not hold information on the building of new schools. It is for local education authorities to determine the need for additional school places in the maintained sector and, where necessary, to build or support the provision of new schools. The Department makes available capital funding for new school places; many of these are provided in existing schools.

Skills Shortages (Construction)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of recent research by Communities Scotland on skill shortages in the construction industry; and what steps she will take to tackle such skills shortages.

John Healey: Skills policy for Scotland was devolved to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. However, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), which is sponsored by my Department, continues to exercise its statutory functions for Scotland as a cross-border public authority. In the first instance, it is therefore for the Board to consider, in conjunction with the Scottish Executive, how to address the findings of the report.

Temporary Classrooms

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1006W, if he will publish the latest available information on the overall floor area of temporary school accommodation in each local education authority; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The data we have on temporary buildings will be appraised shortly with a view to publishing analysis later this year, to support benchmarking.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional security measures are planned by her Department to deter and detect theft and fraud.

Estelle Morris: My Department takes the threat of fraud very seriously, and pursues those who attempt to perpetrate fraud against it, either internal staff or outsiders (eg contractors). This is set out clearly in the Department's "Fraud Policy Statement".
	Current measures which are in place for determining and detecting theft and fraud are as set out:
	(i) our Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is a specialist team which investigates cases of suspected fraud/irregularity
	(ii) we have set out, in the Department's Fraud Response Plan, our strategy for dealing with the threat of fraud
	(iii) the Fraud Sub Committee (a committee of the Department's Audit Committee) was set up in early 2000, to oversee the Department's Fraud Response Plan and the work of the SIU
	(iv) we have a clear Whistleblowers Policy to which all staff have ready access. This enables staff, in confidence, to raise any concerns of wrongdoing
	(v) the Standards of Behaviour and Departmental value which we expect all staff to practice are communicated to staff and reinforced in the Department's Fraud Policy Statement
	(vi) SIU delivers a three year rolling programme of Fraud and Control Awareness to staff across the Department. This includes highlighting our anti-fraud policies, the actions that we have taken against offenders, lessons learned from cases which have been investigated, and stresses the need for sound systems of internal control as being key to combat the threat of fraud
	(vii) we have a strong Internal Audit function, which promotes the delegation of risk management to operational managers, and the maintenance of risk registers as a management tool
	(viii) Internal Audit is involved in programme design and project boards
	(ix) the head of SIU chairs the Fraud Response Liaison Group, which provides a forum for the exchange and sharing of relevant information, and facilitates a co-ordinated approach to investigations by all interested parties.
	Proposed enhancements to the current arrangements are:
	(i) we are developing a Fraud Risk Assessment Strategy which will inform us as to those areas which represent the greatest threat of fraud and where resources can be targeted
	(ii) SIU is to become more proactive in undertaking a programme of inspection work to detect irregularity in those areas most exposed to the risk of fraud. The results of this work will support the level of assurance given by Internal Audit to the Accounting Officer
	(iii) we are forming a 'High Level Senior Management Risk Group' which will alert the board to key areas of risk, including the risk of fraud
	(iv) we are in the process of reviewing the current contact procurement and management arrangements, which will include reviewing the policy for the Financial Appraisal and Monitoring of all DfES contracts in order to enhance the current contract monitoring arrangements
	(v) consideration is also to be given to enhancing the current guidance to staff on contract management which will include raised awareness as to the possibility of fraud.
	In our determination to prevent and detect fraud, the measures set out above have been developed over the years as we have taken on board concerns and lessons learned from past experiences.

School Computers (Pornographic Material)

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what systems are in place to monitor school computer systems for misuse by staff or students with particular reference to pornographic material;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the course of action she recommends governors and headteachers should take when (a) a member of staff and (b) a student is discovered to have used school computers for viewing pornographic material.

John Healey: The monitoring of schools systems for misuse by staff or students with particular reference to pornographic material is the responsibility of the individual school. However, access to unsuitable materials is something we take very seriously and we have produced advice for schools and local education authorities on all aspects of the internet safety.
	Schools deal with misuse through their normal disciplinary procedures, involving the police where appropriate. The Department ensures that information and advice is available to governors and head teaches who have to prevent access to unsuitable material and deal with any problem directly.
	The Department's 'Superhighway Safety' guide includes such advice on how to monitor content and activity on the internet and take action if necessary.

Prisoners Learning and Skills Unit

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects the prisoners learning and skills unit to complete its review of the funding procurement and delivery of prison education.

John Healey: holding answer 4 February 2002
	The prisoners' learning and skills unit review of the funding and procurement arrangements for prison education should be completed by November 2002. The comprehensive review is designed to ensure that there are more equitable funding arrangements across the prison estate.

Student Funding

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual funding per student aged 16–18 is in 2001–02 in (a) school sixth forms, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges; and what the average annual funding is per mature student studying for level 3 courses in colleges.

John Healey: Separate average funding figures by age and level of study are not available. However the latest estimate of the average delegated funding per sixth form student in schools for 2001–02 is £3,330. The total funding per full time equivalent student in further education sector colleges per year in 2001–02 is £3,660. A separate figure for sixth form colleges is not available. It should be noted that these figures are not directly comparable, as the FE funding figure includes total public funding allocated for further education, while the schools' figure is based only on delegated funds and excludes other funding which the school receive centrally from LEAs which impact on post-16 students. The Department intends to make more comparable funding figures available shortly.

Graduate Teacher Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the funding for the graduate teacher scheme has been allocated; how many places are being provided on the scheme; and how many people have applied for the scheme.

Stephen Timms: For information on how graduate teacher programme places are allocated, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 290W.
	In 2000–01, there were 1,507 new entrants to the graduate teacher programme. In 2001–02, 2,250 fully funded places are available. These attract grants of up to £4,000 towards training costs and of up to £13,000 towards the trainee's salary costs. In addition to that, over 1,000 places with funding of up to £4,000 each are being offered this year to schools willing to meet trainees' salary costs from their own budgets. In the current academic year to date, the Teacher Training Agency has received a total of 3,307 applications for places on the graduate teacher programme, 2,350 of which have been approved.

Graduate Teacher Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when schools were given details of the number of places on the graduate teacher scheme.

Stephen Timms: The Teacher Training Agency informs schools of the likely number of graduate teacher programme places that will be available in each of the three annual allocations rounds approximately six weeks before the deadline for submission of applications.

Graduate Teacher Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the number of teachers taken on by schools who have not received funding under the graduate teacher scheme.

Stephen Timms: Information on the number of unqualified teachers whose schools are not receiving funding under the graduate teacher programme is not collected centrally. There is no requirement that schools should appoint prospective trainees before receiving confirmation that a place on the programme will be offered.

Trailblazer Scheme

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultation he has with (a) the Department of Trade and Industry and (b) regional development agencies when determining Trailblazer status.

John Healey: A representative from the Department of Trade and Industry was part of an interdepartmental shortlisting panel selection workshop last December in Sheffield, where a consensus was reached on all 31 expressions of interest received for Trailblazer status.
	The regional development agencies were not consulted during the selection process. An economic analysis of the skill needs of each sector was available to the shortlisting panel.

Trailblazer Scheme

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which sector skills councils were awarded Trailblazer status; and what is the (a) budget and (b) location of each.

John Healey: From the 31 expressions of interest received, the following five sectors were invited to form a Trailblazer Sector Skills Council:
	Apparel, footwear and textile
	Audio visual industries
	Land-based industries
	Oil and gas extraction; petroleum refining and distribution; and chemical manufacture
	Retail.
	Each will have up to £100,000 for their development phase and up to £1 million for support of core activities in their first year.
	The Trailblazer SSCs will operate throughout the UK. Each Trailblazer SSC will be responsible for deciding the location of their own offices.

Ceramic Industry

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will meet the Chairman for Ceramic Training and Development to discuss options for the ceramics industry in respect of sector skills councils.

John Healey: I am very pleased that the Chairman for Ceramic Training and Development has shown this level of interest in the development of sector skills councils. I understand that he has already met with an official from my Department to discuss options for the ceramics industry. It is, I believe, appropriate during the development of SSC's or during the negotiation of other arrangements, that contact remains between officials and potential SSC members. I have asked officials to continue the dialogue with the ceramics industry and look forward to receiving a report on the progress in due course.

School Standards Fund (Kensington and Chelsea)

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the Standards Fund received by schools in Westminster and in Kensington and Chelsea in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02.

Stephen Timms: The following table shows allocations for the Standards Fund for Westminster local education authority and for Kensington and Chelsea local education authority in 2000–01 and 2001–02. The figures include both Government and local authority contributions. The amount actually paid to schools depends on local expenditure decisions by schools and the local authority.
	
		
			 Standards Fund allocations £ 
		
		
			  Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 
			   
			  2000–01 
			 Administrative Support for Small Schools 58,983 
			 Beacon Schools 187,750 
			 Best Practice Research Scholarships 2,500 
			 City Learning Centres 703,331 
			 Developing and Extending Maintained Nursery School Services 28,421 
			 Devolved Formula Capital for Schools 292,590 
			 Early Years Training and Development 16,168 
			 Education and Health Partnerships 23,424 
			 Ethnic Minority Pupils and Traveller Achievement 1,219,975 
			 Excellence in Cities 818,518 
			 Excellence in Cities: Excellence Challenge 10,584 
			 Key Stage 3 Numeracy: Secondary Schools Conference 3,823 
			 Literacy and Numeracy: Summer Schools and Key Stage 3 44,000 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 23,280 
			 Maintained Nursery Capital 69,478 
			 National Grid for Learning 226,701 
			 New National Curriculum 23,200 
			 Performance Management Training 67,930 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 259,500 
			 Pupil Support Allowance 70,000 
			 Qualifications 22,884 
			 School Improvement 405,343 
			 School Laboratories for the 21st Century 75,947 
			 School Leadership 43,072 
			 School Security 32,452 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 82,294 
			 Small School Support Fund 23,879 
			 Social Inclusion, Drugs and Youth 304,361 
			 Special Educational Needs 70,029 
			 Study Support 56,281 
			 Summer Schools for Gifted and Talented Pupils 18,000 
			 Support for Parent Governor Representatives 1,200 
			 Teacher Incentives 13,650 
			 Teaching Assistants 32,613 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 26,100 
			 Working Environment Fund 36,165 
			 Year 6 Literacy and Numeracy Booster Classes 62,921 
			 Total 5,457,347 
			   
			 2001–02  
			 Advanced Skills Teachers 57,500 
			 Beacon Schools 279,750 
			 Children in Public Care 13,404 
			 City Learning Centres 895,000 
			 Classrooms of the Future 225,000 
			 Devolved Capital 468,815 
			 Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco 37,530 
			 Early Professional Development 124,900 
			 Early Years Training and Development 24,239 
			 Education Health Partnerships 23,065 
			 Ethnic Minority Achievement 1,164,506 
			 Excellence in Cities(19) 904,690 
			 Excellence in Cities: Excellence Challenge 57,610 
			 Induction of Newly Qualified Teachers 184,877 
			 Information Management Strategy 44,510 
			 Key Stage 3: National Implementation 214,743 
			 Literacy and Numeracy Summer Schools 20,000 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 77,400 
			 Maintained Nursery School Service 56,802 
			 National Curriculum 23,996 
			 National Grid for Learning 346,722 
			 NDS Condition Funding 211,019 
			 Performance Management 45,257 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 309,037 
			 Pupil Learning Credits 84,496 
			 Pupil Support Allowance 70,000 
			 Qualifications 3,734 
			 Recruitment and Retention Fund 204,000 
			 School Achievement Awards 214,550 
			 School Improvement 256,000 
			 School Laboratories 119,894 
			 School Leadership 75,081 
			 School Security 32,641 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 89,166 
			 Sick Children 3,830 
			 Small Schools Fund 88,159 
			 Social Inclusion: Pupil Support 305,524 
			 Special Educational Needs 139,784 
			 Study Support 191,361 
			 Summer Schools for Gifted and Talented Children 9,000 
			 Supported Early Retirement Scheme for Heads 40,000 
			 Teachers' Sabbaticals 12,000 
			 Teaching Assistants 32,800 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 26,100 
			 Traveller Children Achievement 55,469 
			 Year 6 Booster Classes 64,895 
			 Year 9 Booster Classes 18,000 
			 Total 7,946,856 
			   
			 City of Westminster  
			   
			 2000–01  
			 Administrative Support for Small Schools 120,072 
			 Advanced Skills Teachers 189,000 
			 Beacon Schools 100,000 
			 Best Practice Research Scholarships 3,000 
			 Developing and Extending Nursery School Services 25,036 
			 Devolved Formula Capital for Schools 443,863 
			 Early Excellence Centres 76,260 
			 Early Years Training and Development 57,038 
			 Education and Health Partnerships 38,337 
			 Ethnic Minority Pupils and Traveller Achievement 2,136,538 
			 Excellence in Cities 1,364,696 
			 Excellence in Cities: Excellence Challenge 11,303 
			 Expanding Local Authority Music Services 363,500 
			 Key Stage 3 Numeracy: Secondary Schools Conference 6,372 
			 Literacy and Numeracy: Summer Schools and Key Stage 3 77,000 
			 Maintained Nursery Capital 71,210 
			 National Grid for Learning 365,898 
			 New National Curriculum 40,300 
			 Performance Management Training 47,967 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 363,518 
			 Pupil Support Allowance 163,000 
			 Qualifications 73,786 
			 School Improvement 742,811 
			 School Laboratories for the 21st Century 107,290 
			 School Leadership 67,141 
			 School Security 50,141 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 104,705 
			 Small School Support Fund 39,075 
			 Social Inclusion, Drugs and Youth 656,125 
			 Special Educational Needs 119,071 
			 Specialist Schools 96,538 
			 Study Support 107,586 
			 Summer Schools for Gifted and Talented Pupils 9,000 
			 Support for Parent Governor Representatives 1,200 
			 Support for Performance Management Training 47,967 
			 Teaching Assistants 336,453 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 44,300 
			 Working Environment Fund 51,562 
			 Year 6 Literacy and Numeracy Booster Classes 93,408 
			 Total 8,812,067 
			   
			 2001–02  
			 Adult:Pupil Ratios in Reception Classes 41,854 
			 Advanced Skills Teachers 194,630 
			 Beacon Schools 175,000 
			 Child Protection Co-ordinators 39,600 
			 Children in Public Care 21,780 
			 Class Size Initiative 16,333 
			 Devolved Capital 340,330 
			 Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco 44,060 
			 Early Excellence Centres 170,000 
			 Early Years Training and Development 38,108 
			 Education Health Partnerships 25,160 
			 Ethnic Minority Achievement 2,136,538 
			 Excellence in Cities(20) 1,458,320 
			 Induction of Newly Qualified Teachers 247,056 
			 Information Management Strategy 68,988 
			 Key Stage 3: National Implementation 230,343 
			 Literacy and Numeracy Summer Schools 50,000 
			 Local Education Authority Music Services 181,800 
			 Maintained Nursery School Service 50,376 
			 National Curriculum 41,528 
			 National Grid for Learning 530,618 
			 NDS Condition Funding 613,298 
			 Performance Management 80,789 
			 Primary Literacy and Numeracy Strategies 380,129 
			 Pupil Learning Credits 232,713 
			 Pupil Support Allowance 163,000 
			 Qualifications 7,468 
			 Recruitment and Retention Fund 343,000 
			 School Achievement Awards 276,200 
			 School Improvement 529,000 
			 School Laboratories 107,290 
			 School Leadership 66,269 
			 School Security 50,591 
			 Seed Capital Challenge 114,877 
			 Sick Children 6,223 
			 Small Schools Fund 160,289 
			 Social Inclusion: Pupil Support 740,000 
			 Special Educational Needs 201,928 
			 Specialist Schools 269,816 
			 Study Support 321,429 
			 Summer Schools for Gifted and Talented Children 9,000 
			 Supported Early Retirement Scheme for Heads 40,000 
			 Teachers' Sabbaticals 84,0005 
			 Teaching Assistants 511,567 
			 Teenage Pregnancies 44,300 
			 Truancy Buster Awards 8,000 
			 Year 6 Booster Classes 103,329 
			 Year 9 Booster Classes 36,000 
			 Total 11,602,927 
		
	
	(20) Including Gifted and Talented Children, Learning Support Units and Learning Mentors

Threshold Transfers

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of difficulties experienced by schools in going from Threshold 1 to Threshold 2; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 4 February 2002
	Crossing the performance threshold promotes a teacher to point 1 of the upper pay scale. Further progress is by discretionary performance points recommended by heads and awarded by governing bodies. Teachers on point 1 since September 2000 will first become eligible for a performance point from September 2002. To make best use of these points, heads and governors will need to distinguish the most effective teachers from those who are doing a satisfactory job. I recognise that these decisions will sometimes be difficult, but I believe that heads and governors are fully capable of making them.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Nuclear Waste

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to announce the final disposal arrangements and plans for intermediate and high level nuclear waste; and what is the (a) quantity and (b) location of present (i) intermediate and (ii) high level waste in store.

Michael Meacher: I refer my hon. Friend to my answers of 31 January 2002, Official Report, columns 470–71W. The Government and the devolved Administrations on 12 September launched a national debate in our consultation paper "Managing Radioactive Waste Safely". A copy of the paper is in the Library. Disposal is one of the several waste management options that, the paper proposes, we need to review. The consultation period closes on 12 March and we would welcome comments from all over the UK.

Radioactive Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she set up the Radioactive Waste Management Information Needs Research Project; what arrangements are in place for its co-ordination; what resources have been made available, covering what time period, for the research project; who has been appointed to the Steering Committee of the Research Project; and what criteria were used in making the appointments.

Michael Meacher: I announced on 12 September that the Government had commissioned Wilkinson Environmental Consulting to carry out a review of information needs in relation to options for managing radioactive waste. This will help to inform the national debate and research programme which we propose in our 12 September consultation paper "Managing Radioactive Waste Safely". A Steering Group has been established to assist the Department in the management of the project and consists of the following people:
	
		
			 Name  
		
		
			 Richard Wood (Chair) DEFRA Radioactive Substances Division 
			 Peter Barlow British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. 
			 Professor Geoffrey Bolton Royal Society 
			 Martin Courtis Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee 
			 Fred Dawson Ministry of Defence 
			 David Glazbrook Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Health and Safety Executive 
			 Elizabeth Gray Scottish Executive Environment and Radioactive Substances Division 
			 Cllr. John Henney Copeland borough council 
			 Stewart Kemp Nuclear Free Local Authorities 
			 Ken Ledgerwood Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland 
			 Peter McKay British Energy 
			 Gordon McKerron Social Policy Research Unit, Sussex University 
			 Mike Squibbs Department of Trade and Industry 
			 Harvard Prosser National Assembly for Wales 
			 Jonathan Selwyn United Kingdom Centre for Economic and Environmental Development 
			 Julie Tooley Scottish Environment Protection Agency 
			 Rachel Western Friends of the Earth 
			 Clive Williams Environment Agency 
		
	
	The members of the group were chosen in order to bring together a wide range of expertise in relation to radioactive waste management, including waste producers, non- government organisations, regulators, scientists and academics, and officials from Government Departments and from the devolved Administrations. Membership of the group will be kept under review.
	The membership, terms of reference, and minutes of meetings of the Steering Group are published on the Department's website at http://www.defra.gov.uk
	The contract was let to Wilkinson Environmental Consulting on 28 July 2000 following competitive tender. The contract provides for a final report to be handed over at the end of May 2002 then provides for further work up to the end of November 2002. The estimated cost of the project is £146,441 excluding VAT. Further details of the project are on the website.

Landfill

Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what basis she calculates how many hours of inspectors' time is appropriate for landfill sites, with particular reference to the amount of material dumped per week.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 9 January 2002
	Under the waste framework directive, waste operations are subject to appropriate periodic inspections by the Environment Agency. In carrying out inspections at licensed sites, including landfill sites, the agency must have a regard to the guidance provided in Waste Management Paper No. 4, which provides a system of risk-based inspections, known as the Operator Pollution Risk Appraisal (OPRA). OPRA takes into account the performance of the operator and the environmental risks of the waste operation in determining how often a site is inspected, with a minimum inspection frequency of one every three months. The environmental risks include the type of waste operation and the amounts of waste involved.
	The period of time of each inspection will vary and will depend on a number of factors, including the nature and size of the landfill, the terms and conditions of the licence, and any issues arising during the inspection.
	The agency has issued guidance on an appropriate inspection methodology for use by their inspectors and is available at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ commondata/105385/methodology.pdf.

Fisheries Policy

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she next intends to meet the Fishermen's Association Ltd. to discuss their concerns on proposed changes in the enforcement of fisheries policy; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The enforcement of fisheries policy in Scottish waters is a matter for the Scottish Executive.

Livestock Movements

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations govern the transport of live animals; and what penalties can be imposed upon those who do not comply with them.

Elliot Morley: The principal regulations governing the transport of live animals are: The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997, which makes general and specific provisions for the welfare of animals during transport—a breach of the Order is punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding £5,000 (or £1,000 per animal if more than 10 animals are involved)—and The Transport of Animals (Cleansing and Disinfection) (England) (No.2) Order 2000, which requires vehicles to be cleansed and disinfected after the journey is completed. A breach of the Order is punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding £5,000. A transporter's authorisation to transport live animals under WATO can also be suspended or revoked.

Sheep Industry

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the European Commission's decision on the levels of (a) the sheep annual premium and (b) the less favoured area supplement on the future viability of the UK sheep industry; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: At the Sheepmeat Management Committee on 18 January it was agreed to set the final rate of the Sheep Annual Premium (SAP) for 2001 at 9.086 euros (£5.62). The Less Favoured Area supplement remained at 6.641 euros (£4.11).
	A number of factors depressed returns to sheep farmers in 2001, in particular the closing of export markets because of foot and mouth disease. We expect returns to improve in 2002, with the reopening of export markets and the introduction of a fixed rate Sheep Annual Premium set significantly above the final rate of the premium for 2001.

Sheep Industry

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the level of the sheep annual premium that would be payable to United Kingdom sheep producers if the British market price for lamb were used in the calculation of the sheep premium in place of the average European Union price; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The calculation of the rate of the Sheep Annual Premium prior to the changes agreed in December 2001 was based on several factors related to sheep production in the European Union, not only on the average market price; for this reason it is not possible simply to substitute the British average market price for the European Union one. However, in 2001 the average market price for sheepmeat in Great Britain was some 24 per cent. below the European Union average price, and calculating the rate of the Sheep Annual Premium separately for Great Britain and for the rest of the European Union would have increased the rate in Great Britain and reduced it elsewhere.
	From 2002 the Sheep Annual Premium will be at a fixed rate of 21 euros per eligible animal, and will not be affected by fluctuations in market prices.

Common Agricultural Policy

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how CAP funding is spent in the United Kingdom broken down by (a) types of schemes and (b) nations.

Elliot Morley: Latest estimates of CAP funding paid directly to farmers in 2001 are shown in the table, broken down by nations of the UK. CAP funding also includes indirect market support measures which cannot be split by nation and direct payments to farmers. Indirect market support cost £497 million in 2000–01.
	
		Subsidies paid directly to farmers in 2001 -- £ million
		
			 Subsidies on product England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland UK 
		
		
			 Crop subsidies  
			 Arable area payments on:  
			 Wheat 330 2 16 1 349 
			 Barley 180 5 68 7 259 
			 Other cereal crops 22 1 5 (21)— 27 
			 Oilseed rape 94 (21)— 9 (21)— 103 
			 Linseed 10 (21)— (21)— (21)— 10 
			 Peas and beans—stockfeed and human consumption 67 (21)— 1 (22)— 68 
			 Other crops 7 1 (21)— (21)— 8 
			   
			 Other crop subsidies 3 (22)— (21)— (22)— 3 
			 Livestock subsidies:  
			 Beef special premium 126 24 46 46 242 
			 Suckler cow premium 80 25 61 45 211 
			 Slaughter premium 49 7 13 15 84 
			 Extensification payment scheme 50 15 34 27 126 
			 Over-30-month scheme 91 17 23 26 157 
			 Beef national envelope 11 3 8 5 26 
			 Sheep annual premium 74 53 42 13 182 
			 FMD light lambs 1 2 2 (22)— 5 
			 Other subsidies:  
			 Dairy agrimonetary compensation 56 8 6 9 79 
			 Total subsidies on products 1,249 162 334 194 1,943 
			   
			 Other subsidies  
			 Set-aside 162 1 20 1 184 
			 Other animal disease compensation 11 1 (21)— 16 29 
			 Less favoured areas support schemes 42 42 61 18 164 
			 Agri-environment schemes: 145 34 34 7 220 
			 Countryside stewardship 49 (22)— (22)— (22)— 49 
			 Countryside premium (Scotland) (22)— (22)— 9 (22)— 9 
			 Tir Cymen and Tir Gofal (22)— 13 (22)— (22)— 13 
			 Organic farming 27 3 5 (21)— 35 
			 Environmentally sensitive areas 48 7 10 5 71 
			 Nitrate sensitive areas 3 (22)— (22)— (22)— 3 
			 Woodland schemes 8 (21)— 5 2 14 
			 SSSI(23) 9 2 5 (22)— 16 
			 Other 2 8 (21)— (21)— 10 
			 Total other subsidies 504 113 149 49 815 
			 Total subsidies 1,754 276 482 243 2,760 
		
	
	(21) Negligible: less than 0.5
	(22) Not applicable
	(23) Payments for sites of special scientific interest are not part of CAP

Throckmorton Airfield

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the (a) Ministry of Defence and (b) Home Office about the proposed asylum accommodation centre on land adjoining her Department's land at Throckmorton, Worcestershire; and what assessment she has made of the implications for compensation claims for local residents following the burial of foot and mouth carcases at the site.

Elliot Morley: No discussions of this matter have taken place with either the Ministry of Defence or the Home Office. Since the land does not belong to this Department nor does the possible use fall within its remit, we have not made an assessment of the implications for any compensation claims made by local residents following the burial of foot and mouth carcases in the area.

Departmental Leave Entitlement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what has been the average annual leave entitlement of staff in her Department in each of the last four years.

Elliot Morley: Following the creation of DEFRA, all staff were given an annual leave entitlement of 30 days from 1 August 2001 as one of the first steps towards harmonising terms and conditions of service for then ex-MAFF and ex-Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions staff who joined together to form the new Department.
	Prior to the creation of DEFRA, MAFF's entitlements, including those of its executive agencies (excluding the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, whose chief executive will reply direct), were determined by grade and length of service as given in the table. Details of average annual leave entitlements could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		Days 
		
			   Total service  
			 Grade On entry After one year After 10 years After 15 years 
		
		
			 From 1 April 1997 
			 Up to HEO 22 25 — 30 
			 SEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			  
			 From 1 April 1998 
			 Up to EO 22 25 — 30 
			 HEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			 
			 From 1 April 1999(24) 
			 Up to EO 22 25 — — 
			 HEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			  
			  From 1 April 2000–31 March 2001(24) 
			 Up to EO 25 — — 30 
			 HEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			  
			  From 1 April 2001–31 July 2001  
			 Up to EO 25 — 30 — 
			 HEO and above 25 — 30 — 
		
	
	(24) After 13 years total service
	(25) After 12 years total service
	
		Days 
		
			   Total service  
			 Grade On entry After one year After 10 years After 15 years 
		
		
			  Ex-intervention board before 1 August 2001  
			 Up to AO 22 25 — 30 
			 EO and HEO 25 — — 30 
			 SEO to Grade 5 25 — 30 — 
			 Above Grade 5 30 — — — 
		
	
	
		Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) -- Days
		
			 Grade On entry After one year service After 10 years service After 15 years service 
		
		
			 From 1 April 1997 
			 Up to HEO 22 25 — 30 
			 SEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			  
			 From 1 April 1998 
			 Up to HEO 22 25 30 — 
			 SEO and above 25 — 30 — 
			  
			 From 1 April 1999 
			 All staff 22 25 30 — 
			  
			 From 1 April 2000 
			 All staff 25 — 30 — 
			  
			 From 1 April 2001 
			 All staff 25 — 30 —

Departmental Salary Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 will be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions.

Elliot Morley: Salary costs and pension contributions are forecast to account for 13.7 per cent. of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional security measures are planned by her Department to deter and detect theft and fraud.

Elliot Morley: For physical security the Department already has a wide range of measures in place which can be varied or adapted to meet specific needs or changed circumstances for any of our sites around the UK. Measures typically include access control (including guard services and pass wearing procedures), staff and visitor checks, staff awareness, intruder detection systems, good liaison with local police etc.
	As to fraud, the Department has a fraud policy statement which is available to all staff. It has also issued guidance for managers on how to handle suspected instances of fraud. Staff are in no doubt that fraud is regarded very seriously, and that the Department will always prosecute perpetrators and also take disciplinary action against staff where these actions are considered appropriate. Professional investigation, legal and internal audit advice is always available in support, and the Department seeks to maintain an awareness of current practice and developments in the detection and prevention of fraud.

Aquatic Mammals

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her latest estimate is of the population of (a) grey seals, (b) common-seals and (c) dolphins in the waters around England and Wales.

Michael Meacher: In 2000, the grey seal population around England and Wales was estimated at 10,100 individuals and the common seal population of eastern England (few breed elsewhere in England and Wales) was estimated to be between approximately 3,800 and 4,500.
	The inshore populations of bottlenose dolphin (primarily off Wales) are estimated at about 160 (not including the Channel Islands). No separate estimate of numbers of other dolphins in waters around England and Wales has been made, but a 1994 survey of small cetacean abundance in the North Sea and adjacent waters gave an estimated population of white beaked and white sided dolphins of 11,760.

Aquatic Mammals

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the trends over the past 20 years in the populations of (a) grey seals, (b) common seals and (c) dolphins in the waters around England and Wales.

Michael Meacher: (a) Surveys carried out by the Natural Environment Research Council for the Home Office and the Scottish Executive over the past 20 years have shown that the British population of breeding grey seals is growing at a rate of about 6 per cent. per annum since 1984. There is considerable variation around this rate of increase at English and Welsh colonies.
	(b) The common seal population of eastern England (few breed elsewhere in England and Wales) crashed in 1988 due to an outbreak of phocine distemper virus. Prior to this, the population was over 4,000; in 1989 the numbers approximately halved. It has now recovered to between 3,800 and 4,500.
	(c) The majority of the bottlenose dolphin population in English and Welsh waters is located in Cardigan Bay. The population has remained stable over the last decade, with an estimated population of 127 in mid 1990s compared with an estimated 121 in 2000. No assessment has been made of trends of other dolphin populations in the waters around England and Wales.

Marine Law

Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government are taking to implement proposals for the comprehensive reform of UK marine law and policy.

Michael Meacher: The forthcoming Marine Stewardship report will set out our vision for the sustainable development and conservation of the marine environment. Within this context, and alongside existing initiatives such as the review of marine nature conservation, we are considering whether legislative changes are needed.

Environmental Protection Act

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many individuals have taken action against (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council under Section 91 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and in how many cases they were successful.

Michael Meacher: No individuals have taken action against (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council under Section 91 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Litter

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people in Buckinghamshire were prosecuted for littering in each of the last five years; and in how many cases they were convicted.

Michael Meacher: In each of the last five years, no people in Buckinghamshire have been prosecuted for littering offences.

Water Meters

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many water meters were installed in houses (a) in England and Wales and (b) in the Buckingham constituency in each of the last five years.

Michael Meacher: The net increase in the number of household customers charged on the basis of metering in each of the past five years, in England and Wales, was as shown in the table.
	
		
			  Net increase in household customers charged on the basis of metering(26) 
		
		
			 1996–97 (27)278,000 
			 1997–98 559,000 
			 1998–99 486,000 
			 1999–2000 353,000 
			 2000–01 244,000 
		
	
	(26) To the nearest thousand
	(27) Figures for 1996–97 were not collected on the same basis as for later years.
	Information is not collected on a constituency basis.

Noise/nuisance Complaint

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) noise and (b) nuisance complaints were investigated by (i) Buckinghamshire county council and (ii) Aylesbury Vale district council in each year since 1997; what proportion of reported complaints this represented; how many abatement notices were issued in each year; and how many fines were levied for non-compliance in each year.

Michael Meacher: Buckinghamshire county council do not have responsibility for investigating or reporting noise complaints as this rests with the district councils within its area. Figures requested for Aylesbury Vale district council are shown in the table.
	
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02(28) 
		
		
			 Total number of complaints received (including pest control) 4,171 4,698 5,022 6,437 4,648 
			 Number of Pest Control Complaints 2,301 3,018 2,850 3,855 2,367 
			 Number of Nuisance Complaints 380 356 312 349 239 
			 Proportion of total complaints (percentage) 9.1 7.6 6.2 5.4 5.1 
			 Number of Noise Complaints 531 410 531 683 639 
			 Proportion of total complaints (percentage) 12.7 8.7 10.6 10.6 13.7 
			 Number of Other Complaints 959 914 1,329 1,550 1,403 
			 Number of Abatement Notices Served 21 7 16 11 9 
			 Number of Fines Levied 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	(28) To 31 January 2002

Dog Fouling

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fines for dog fouling were issued by (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council in each of the last five years; what the average fine levied in each year was; and what the total sums raised in each year were.

Michael Meacher: In each of the last five years there were no fixed penalty fines issued for dog fouling offences by (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council.

Pollution

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many successful prosecutions have been undertaken by the Environment Agency concerning pollution in Buckinghamshire in the last five years; and what was the average level of fine imposed.

Michael Meacher: Buckinghamshire is served by two Environment Agency regions, Anglian and Thames.
	The Anglian region has successfully undertaken 13 prosecutions in the last five years and fines totalling £366,350 have been imposed averaging £28,180 per prosecution.
	Since 1999, the Thames region have taken successful prosecutions on seven occasions and fines of £12,100 have been imposed averaging £1,871 per prosecution. Information on prosecutions in Thames region prior to 1999 is held manually and its retrieval from archives would involve disproportionate cost.

Pollution

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints have been received by the Environment Agency concerning pollution in the Buckingham constituency in each year since 1997.

Michael Meacher: Since 1 June 2000, the Environment Agency has received 198 complaints about pollution in the Aylesbury Vale district council area, which equates approximately to the Buckingham constituency. Information on earlier complaints is held manually and its retrieval would involve disproportionate cost.

Energy Efficiency

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost savings resulting from energy efficiency measures introduced by (a) Buckinghamshire county council and (b) Aylesbury Vale district council in accordance with the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995.

Michael Meacher: This Department has not made any estimates of the cost savings arising from the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) 1995. Nor is there any requirement for energy conservation authorities to make such an assessment. This would be an extremely difficult exercise, since the financial savings resulting from energy saving measures under HECA fall to individual householders through cheaper fuel bills. This information is therefore not readily available.
	Buckinghamshire county council does not have any responsibilities under HECA, which applies only to local housing authorities.

Maize

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK's fodder maize is grown in (a) England and (b) each region.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 February 2002
	Estimates from the June 2001 Agriculture and Horticulture census indicate that England accounts for 93 per cent. of the maize area in the UK. Virtually all of the maize area is used for fodder.
	Information by UK country and English regions is provided in the table.
	
		
			 Area of maize 2000 2001 
		
		
			 UK area (hectares)(29) 104,090 129,208 
			 Percentage of UK:   
			 England(29) 93.8 92.5 
			 Wales(29) 6.1 6.4 
			 Scotland(29) 0 0 
			 Northern Ireland(29) 0.1 1.1 
			
			 England (hectares)(30) 97,634 119,557 
			 Percentage of England:   
			 North-east 0.2 n/a 
			 North-west 8.4 n/a 
			 Yorks and Humber 2 n/a 
			 East midlands 7 n/a 
			 West midlands 13.4 n/a 
			 Eastern 6.4 n/a 
			 South-east 18.7 n/a 
			 South-west 43.9 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = not yet available
	(29) Includes an adjustment in respect of minor holdings.
	(30) These data refer to main holdings only, ie minor holdings excluded.

Rural Payments Agency

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many working days were lost within the Rural Payments Agency between 16 November 2001 and 31 January 2002 as a result of industrial action.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The number of working days lost within the Rural Payments Agency between 16 November 2001 and 31 January 2002 as a result of industrial action was 3,704.

Rural Payments Agency

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) total and (b) percentage were of arable payments made by the Rural Payments Agency to arable farmers in the 16 November 2001 to 31 January 2002 window.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The number of arable payments made by the Rural Payments Agency to arable farmers nationally in the 16 November 2001 to 31 January 2002 window was 39,697 paid, out of a total 42,738 received, representing 92.88 per cent.

Arable Payments

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) level and (b) percentage were of arable payments made to farmers at her Department's Exeter office within the window period to 31 January.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The number of arable payments made to farmers at the Department's Exeter office within the window period to 31 January were 6,740 paid out, of a total of 8,282 received, representing 81.38 per cent.

Refrigerators

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what advice she will give to councils in setting their budget for 2002–03 in advance of the Government deciding how much assistance will be given for the storage of refrigerators;
	(2)  whether she intends to make up shortfalls between individual councils' expenditure on the storage of refrigerators and the grant given for that purpose to each council for the period December 2001 to March 2002;
	(3)  when she expects to announce the level of assistance to councils for the storage of refrigerators for the financial year 2002–03.

Michael Meacher: £6 million was added to the provisional local government finance settlement for 2002–03 to cover the costs of implementing the ozone depleting substances regulation relating to the period 1 January 2002 to 31 March 2002.
	We are continuing to assess the impacts of the regulation and will determine what further action, including guidance to local authorities, is required for 2002–03.

Foot and Mouth

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the target time is for a response from her Department to a farmer's claim for compensation.

Elliot Morley: We aim to pay farmers compensation for livestock slaughtered for FMD control within three weeks of receipt of correct documents. At the peak of the outbreak this aim was not met due to the volume of claims being received at the same time.

Foot and Mouth

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the reports produced by the cattle plague commissioners following the outbreak of cattle plague in the 1870s were consulted by officials from her Department and MAFF the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The veterinary and scientific advice that underpins the Government's disease control policies has evolved over many years. While no particular reference has been made during the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease to the recommendations made in the cattle plague reports, many of them are still relevant today and were implemented last year.

Foot and Mouth

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her policy on public access to (a) the Disease Control System Database and (b) the Veterinary Laboratory Agency Foot and Mouth Disease Care Database.

Elliot Morley: Under the Data Protection Act 1998, any individual, on request, may have access to their personal records held on either the Disease Control System Database and/or the Veterinary Laboratory Agency Foot and Mouth Disease Care database. General public access is not permitted to personal records.

Animal Movement Restrictions

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether all the passports of offspring under restriction on 21 January have been collected; what steps have been taken to prevent any more offspring being moved while under restriction; and when she expects the backlog of offspring under the cull to be slaughtered.

Alun Michael: There were 659 offspring of BSE infected or suspect cattle in Great Britain under restriction on 21 January 2002 with 44 passports outstanding. But all outstanding passports have now been collected.
	Officials wrote on 18 January to all owners of offspring under restriction reminding them that their cattle must not be moved without permission. Farm visits to identify offspring, issue restriction notices and remove passports are again taking place.
	I expect that the additional backlog of cases due to foot and mouth disease will have been cleared by 1 April 2002.

LORD CHANCELLOR

European Convention on Human Rights

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the impact of incorporating the ECHR in the UK domestic judicial system.

Michael Wills: We keep the impact of the Human Rights Act on the judicial system under continuous review. An analysis of its impact on the workload of the courts is produced quarterly, and is placed on the human rights part of our website. A breakdown of the cases in which the Human Rights Act has been raised and their outcome is also on the site.
	There has been no significant increase in either the length of cases or the number of cases awaiting hearing, attributable to the Human Rights Act, since 2 October 2000.

Legal Services Commission

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the budget for the Legal Services Commission in the current financial year is; and what is her forecast for each of the next two years.

Rosie Winterton: The Legal Service's Commission's budget in the current financial year is £70.350 million, which is the baseline being rolled over into the next two years of the SR 2000 Spending Review period. The requirement for 2003–04 onwards will be under consideration in the SR 2002 Spending Review.

Data Protection

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff employed on data protection are employed outside London; and in which locations.

Michael Wills: In respect of the Lord Chancellor's Department, none. Responsibility for administering and enforcing the Data Protection Act 1998 lies with the Information Commissioner, who carries out these responsibilities independently of Government, but is sponsored by the Lord Chancellor's Department. I understand that the Commissioner currently employs 169 staff on data protection matters at her offices in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Data Protection

Mike Wood: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is being done to protect businesses from companies which use threatening and confusing letters to demand excessive amounts of money in return for data protection registration.

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner, who carries out her responsibilities independently of Government, has a duty under the Data Protection Act 1998 to disseminate information about the operation of the Act. The commissioner launched a public information campaign on 17 January 2002 to alert organisations to the fact that while they may need to be on the register of data controllers, they should not be misled by businesses who have no statutory powers to maintain the register. Notices were placed in a number of national newspapers and the commissioner has set up a dedicated website at www.doineedtonotify.co.uk to help organisations establish whether they need to notify. She has also made available a self-assessment guide which can be obtained by phoning 0870 9027 522.
	I understand that the commissioner is prepared to take legal action against the companies concerned wherever possible and appropriate and that she is liaising closely with the Office of Fair Trading, trading standards authorities and the police on the matter.

Data Protection

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received about the regulatory burdens imposed by data protection legislation.

Michael Wills: Since the Lord Chancellor's Department assumed responsibility for data protection issues in June 2001, I have received representations about the level of fees chargeable for subject access under the Data Protection Act 1998, in particular with regard to manually held health records. The issue here is to strike a balance between ensuring that cost is not a barrier to individuals requesting access to their health records and allowing the NHS to recoup costs incurred in servicing requests, so that essential resources are not diverted from patient care. The Government are committed to continuing discussion with key interest groups and to working closely with the information commissioner with the aim of achieving a long-term solution.
	I have also received representations about the effect upon small businesses of the Act's notification requirements, including the annual fee of £35, and of the commissioner's forthcoming employment practices data protection code. We do not consider the level of fee to be an undue regulatory burden, although it will be kept under review. We are carefully considering the other representations in consultation with the commissioner.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what additional security measures are planned by her Department to deter and detect theft and fraud.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department has a wide range of security measures in place to deter and detect theft and fraud. These include physical security standards for all departmental buildings, personnel security procedures and arrangements to safeguard valuable departmental assets. The security of buildings is reviewed on a periodic basis and security arrangements in general are reviewed in the light of any emerging threats or serious incidents. The Department's programme to achieve compliance with BS7799, the British Standard for Information Security Management, will quality assure existing practices and introduce improvements where these are found to be necessary. Measures include more extensive use of risk assessment, security education and awareness for staff and reviews of physical security arrangements.
	The Department also maintains sound systems of internal control, which include controls to prevent and deter fraud. These systems are kept under review and are subject to regular audit coverage. All incidents of suspected or detected fraud are subject to rigorous investigation and appropriate action is taken against those found guilty of wrongdoing. Where fraud occurs, in addition to the investigation of the particular incident consideration is also given to whether controls need to be improved to prevent any further re-occurrence. The Department maintains an effective capability to investigate incidents of fraud. This includes a cadre of trained staff.
	The Department has anti-fraud policies, together with policies on confidential reporting (whistleblowing), staff conduct and disciplinary procedures. These are communicated to all staff.

Land Registry

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many complaints he has received about the accuracy of the Land Registry in the last 12 months.

Michael Wills: During the calendar year 2001, the Land Registry received 368 complaints relating to errors and incorrect information being supplied.

Land Registry

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff from the Land Registry are employed outside London; and in which locations.

Michael Wills: Currently there are 7,623 staff employed by the Land Registry outside central London. The breakdown by location is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Birkenhead 510 
			 Coventry 302 
			 Croydon 213 
			 Durham 678 
			 Gloucester 423 
			 Harrow 257 
			 Hull 291 
			 Lytham 502 
			 Leicester 286 
			 Nottingham 633 
			 Peterborough 402 
			 Plymouth 757 
			 Portsmouth 213 
			 Stevenage 387 
			 Swansea 618 
			 Telford 330 
			 Tunbridge Wells 275 
			 Weymouth 389 
			 York 157

Land Registry

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received on reform of the Land Registry.

Michael Wills: Last year, I received the report of the Quinquennial Review of the Land Registry's status and business operations. This report was published in June 2001 and is available on the Land Registry's website www.landreg.gov.uk.
	Ministers have accepted the independent reviewer's recommendation that the Land Registry should continue to operate as a separate Government Department and executive agency with trading fund status.
	On 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 915W, I announced that the Government had approved an interdepartmental programme of work in response to the report of the Quinquennial Review. Recommendations in the report which relate to the business processes of the Land Registry are being taken forward under the framework of a 10-year strategic business plan which, subject to ministerial approval, will be published in the spring.

Public Guardianship Office

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what functions the Public Guardianship Office performs; and what her estimate is of its running costs.

Rosie Winterton: The PGO provides an integrated service for its clients, safeguarding their financial interests while avoiding state intervention. In protecting their financial interests, the PGO works with others to meet the clients' broader social needs. The functions of the PGO are to protect and promote the interests of its clients by overseeing and supporting the activities of receivers appointed by the Court of Protection to manage their financial affairs; to manage the financial affairs of people whom the Court of Protection adjudges mentally incapable of doing so for themselves, where there is no one else willing or suitable to act as receiver, and to carry out the administrative functions arising from the Court of Protection's jurisdiction under the Enduring Power of Attorney Act 1985.
	The current estimated running costs of the PGO are £21,790,000.

Public Guardianship Office

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what targets she has set for reply to (a) letters from hon. Members and (b) letters from members of the public to the Public Guardianship Office.

Rosie Winterton: The Public Guardianship Office has a key performance measure which applies to letters from hon. Members as well as letters in general from the public. It currently required 85 per cent. of letters to be responded to within 15 days of receipt. In the period 1 April to 30 November 2001 this target was exceeded and 91.9 per cent. of letters received a response before the target date.
	However, it is very unfortunate that the Public Guardianship Office mislaid my hon. Friend's letter dated 26 November and as a result a response was sent well outside of this target. The PGO has apologised for this unacceptable delay.

Public Guardianship Office

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many properties the Public Guardianship Office controls on behalf of people for whom they take responsibility.

Rosie Winterton: The Public Guardianship Office (PGO) acts as receiver for clients where there is no other suitable person available to act or where for other reasons the court of protection considers it appropriate that there should be an independent receiver. The PGO acts as receiver to 110 clients who own property. Monitoring, guidance and advisory activities are carried out by the protection division of the PGO to ensure that there is adequate supervision of private receivers by means of issuing authorities and directions. 2,863 protection division clients own property.

Public Guardianship Office

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people are under the protection of the Public Guardianship Office.

Rosie Winterton: There are approximately 1,000 clients under the direct receivership of the PGO and a further 20,000 clients within the protection division of the PGO. In addition the PGO performs a registration service for enduring powers of attorney (EPA): approximately 12,000 EPAs are registered annually.

Public Guardianship Office

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what official foreign visits officials from the Public Guardianship Office have been made since it was established; at what cost; and for what purpose.

Rosie Winterton: Nicholas Smedley, then Acting Chief Executive of the PGO, accompanied Denzil Lush, Master of the Court Protection, to the Biennial Conference of the Canadian Public Trustees and Guardians, which was held in Nova Scotia, Canada on 27–31 May 2001. The purpose of the visit was to build on existing relations, gather information, keep abreast of international legislation and enable the PGO to promote its radical programme of change. Both Mr. Smedley and Master Lush presented papers to the conference. The total cost of the visit was £4,008.56.
	In September 2001, Julie Burlinson, (MERIS Project Manager) Chris Barnwell (Court Manager) and Neil Ross (Account Manager) visited Reykjavik, Iceland. The purpose of this visit was to conduct an evaluation of one of the short-listed suppliers for MERIS. MERIS (Mental Health Renaissance Information System) is the project which will provide an IS system to support the core functions of the PGO. The total cost of this visit was £2,095.50.

Website

George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what arrangements he has in place for monitoring and updating his Department's website.

Michael Wills: The LCD website www.lcd.gov.uk is monitored daily by its content editor and updated as required by the Department's technical web manager.

Law Commission

Ian Lucas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Law Commission bills have been introduced but failed to gain Royal Assent since 1979.

Michael Wills: As far as can be ascertained within the time available, since 1979 three Law Commission Bills have been introduced but have not received Royal Assent. All three Bills were however enacted in subsequent parliamentary sessions. This does not include any Law Commission Consolidation Bills that may have been introduced but did not receive Royal Assent, as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Law Commission

Ian Lucas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the recommendations of the Law Commission that have been rejected by the Government since 1979.

Michael Wills: The list of Law Commission reports since 1979 that have been wholly rejected by the Government, that can be ascertained in the time available, is set out in the table. The list does not include reports that were accepted only in part. A list of individual recommendations that have been rejected could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Report number/date Title 
		
		
			 96—9 November 1979 Criminal Law: Offences Relating to Interference with the Course of Justice 
			 104—28 October 1980 Insurance Law: Non-Disclosure and Breach of Warranty 
			 110—29 October 1981 Breach of Confidence 
			 121—19 July 1983 Law of Contract: Pecuniary Restitution on Breach of Contract 
			 127—26 January 1983 Transfer of Land: The Law of Positive and Restrictive Covenants 
			 145—5 July 1985 Criminal Law: Offences Against Religion and Public Worship 
			 149—25 September 1985 Criminal Law: Report on Criminal Libel 
			 152—20 November 1985 Property Law: Liability for Chancel Repairs 
			 168—3 September 1987 Private International Law: The Law of Domicile 
			 175—8 December 1988 Family Law: Matrimonial Property 
			 178—20 April 1989 Landlord and Tenant Law: Compensation for Tenants' Improvements 
			 204—14 November 1991 Transfer of Land: Land Mortgages 
			 219—7 December 1993 Contributory Negligence as a Defence in Contract 
			 236—20 December 1995 Fiduciary Duties and Regulatory Rules

City Status (Golden Jubilee)

Ian Lucas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the successful applicants for city status in celebration of Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee will be announced.

Rosie Winterton: My noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor hopes to announce the results of the competition by the end of march.

Departmental Salary Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 will be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions.

Rosie Winterton: The proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 of £2,754,934,000 to be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions is 9 per cent.
	This figure excludes expenditure on judicial salary costs which fall to the Department.

Departmental Leave Entitlements

John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what has been the average annual leave entitlement of staff in the Lord Chancellor's Department in each of the last four years.

Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows:
	(a) The annual leave entitlements for staff below the senior civil service in LCD and its agencies is as follows:
	LCD Headquarters (1998–99 to date)
	Pay Bands A-E (AA to SEO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year's service; 30 days after 10 years' service
	Pay Bands F-G (Grades 7 and 6)—25 days on entry; 30 days after 10 years
	The Public Guardianship Office (1998–99 to date)
	Pay Ranges 1–4 (AA to EO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 30 days after 10 years
	Pay Ranges 5–8 (HEO to Grade 6)—25 days on entry; 30 days after 10 years
	The Court Service
	1998–99
	Spans 1–4 (AA to EO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 27 days after 10 years; and 30 days after 20 years
	Spans 5–6 (HEO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 27 days after 10 years; and 30 days after 15 years
	Spans 7–9 (SEO to Grade 6)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 30 days after 10 years
	1999/2000
	Spans 1–4 (AA to EO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 28 days after 10 years' service; and 30 days after 20 years
	Spans 5–6 (HEO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 28 days after 10 years; and 30 days after 15 years
	Spans 7–9 (SEO to Grade 6)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 30 days after 10 years
	2000–01
	Spans 1–4 (AA to EO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 29 days after 20 years; and 30 days after 20 years
	Spans 5–6 (HEO)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 29 days after 10 years; and 30 days after 15 years
	Spans 7–9 (SEO to Grade 6)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year; 30 days after 10 years
	2001–02
	Spans 1–9 (AA to Grade 6)—22 days on entry; 25 days after one year, 30 days after 10 years.
	(b) The annual leave entitlement for members of the senior civil service is currently set by the Cabinet Office at 30 days and has been so for the last four years.

Court Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many persons are employed in the Court Service.

Michael Wills: There are 11,087 employees in England and Wales.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what humanitarian aid is being provided by the United Kingdom Government to prisoners in Afghanistan.

Clare Short: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), acting under its mandate provided by the Geneva Conventions, is responsible for assisting war detainees in Afghanistan. ICRC delegates visit detainees, register them and, with the consent of the detaining authority, offer psychological support and extra help to make their conditions of detention more acceptable, such as exchanging correspondence with families. Since November 2001, the ICRC has registered almost 5,000 detainees, in some 40 places of detention.
	My Department has so far provided £3 million to the ICRC in Afghanistan in response to the current crisis.

Afghanistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many refugee camps have been set up in Afghanistan; and what estimate she has made of the total number likely to be required.

Clare Short: The United Nations estimates that almost 1.2 million Afghans are displaced inside Afghanistan, primarily due to conflict and drought, with the north and west of the country accounting for over 60 per cent. of the total displaced. Significant numbers do not reside in camps, but are hosted by already vulnerable communities. The United Nations currently lists over 900 centres where significant numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) have gathered, both in organised camps and among host communities.
	International organisations are helping to support the return of IDPs to their homes. Nevertheless significant numbers remain displaced. The largest organised camps are at Maslakh in Herat, Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, and in Mazar-i-Sharif city. The International Organisation for Migration is currently re-registering the estimated 200,000 population of Maslakh camp and opening a new camp in Herat to accommodate new arrivals. We are not aware of requirements for further new camps in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many international troops are currently deployed to protect aid convoys in Afghanistan.

Clare Short: The responsibility for establishing and maintaining security across Afghanistan lies with the Afghan Interim Administration. The role of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is to help the Afghan Interim Administration provide security and stability only in and around Kabul; it is not involved in providing security for aid convoys.

Afghanistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made about the amount of aid required in Afghanistan; and how much has been delivered.

Clare Short: In late September last year, the UN launched an inter-agency donor alert for $584 million (£413 million) to cover the humanitarian needs of Afghans over the winter months from October 2001 to March 2002. This was subsequently revised to $657 million (£464 million). Latest UN figures indicate that donors have contributed almost $583 million (£412 million) towards that appeal. My Department has contributed £60 million since last September.
	Based on a preliminary needs assessment, the UN Secretary General announced at the Tokyo conference on Afghan reconstruction last month that $10 billion (£7.1 billion) will be needed over the next five years to cover the costs of recovery, reconstruction and on-going humanitarian needs in Afghanistan. Of this some $1.3 billion (£0.9 billion) is needed in 2002 to cover immediate needs. Overall, donors have pledged $4.5 billion (£3.2 billion) over the next five years; $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) of which is for commitments over this next year. The Department for International Development has committed £200 million over the next five years for both reconstruction and humanitarian assistance. This pledge is in addition to the significant sums that DFID contributes to the World Bank, European Union and Asian Development banks who will also be channelling funds into Afghanistan over coming years. DFID's share of the European Union pledge alone will be 20 per cent.
	My Department has a well-earned reputation for rapid and flexible disbursement of funds. We will continue our efforts to turn pledges quickly into cash, and will encourage our counterparts in the international community to do likewise. Timely disbursement of support is critical if we are to continue to meet immediate and longer-term needs in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the programmes funded by the UK Government which are targeted to support women's needs and interests in Afghanistan.

Clare Short: We strongly support the common programming approach under the United Nations-led Strategic Framework for Afghanistan, which is intended to provide a principled, co-ordinated and coherent approach to programming. One of its key themes is the protection and advancement of human rights, with particular emphasis on women's empowerment.
	We recognise the need to build the capacity of Afghanistan's women to enable them to take full part in the reconstruction of their society, including the new Interim Administration, and to ensure that legal, constitutional and other provisions are not discriminatory against women. Our funding for support of Afghan women during the recovery and reconstruction of Afghanistan is being channelled through United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations who will work closely with the Interim Administration and who have expressed a commitment to involving Afghan women in the design and implementation of their strategies and programmes.
	To date this includes an allocation of $1 million to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) for a programme to support Afghan women's leadership through awareness raising, capacity building and gender mainstreaming; as well as local level, quick impact recovery projects supporting women. We are also in discussion with the Ministry for Women on how we can provide other support to its activities.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department plans to give to micro-credit schemes for women in Afghanistan.

Clare Short: As recovery and reconstruction activities begin in Afghanistan, the programmes that we support will be carefully designed and monitored to ensure that women and girls benefit. Women are both often the poorest members of communities, and the best organisers. We are therefore identifying how we can support women's livelihoods. For example, we are currently funding a women's income generation project implemented by Ockenden International in western Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people in her Department worked on Afghanistan in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001 and (d) January 2002; and on what tasks and in which policy areas they were deployed.

Clare Short: Accurate figures are difficult to provide, as the number of staff in my Department working on Afghanistan over the years has varied according to the situation. However, within my Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department (CHAD), a London-based desk officer has dealt with Afghanistan, supported by a range of professional advisers as required. Since last September, a team of four people has been working full-time on the Afghanistan crisis supplemented by technical and project administrative support in the region.
	Since the events of September last year, my Afghanistan team has been managing a £60 million programme, the objectives of which are to: help the process of stabilisation by supporting the peacemaking efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary General and the establishment of the Afghan Interim Administration; help kick-start the rehabilitation and recovery effort; help meet immediate life-saving needs within Afghanistan especially those over the remaining winter months; support refugee needs in neighbouring countries and assist with the resettlement of returnees and IDPs; assist with the promotion and protection of human rights, including the provision of objective information; and encourage forward planning for Afghanistan's post- conflict recovery.

Afghanistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in remote areas of Afghanistan.

Clare Short: Thanks to the efforts of the UN-led humanitarian system, and with the support of the international community, a potential humanitarian catastrophe has been averted in Afghanistan. However, there are some remote areas of Afghanistan (especially in the west) where the humanitarian situation remains serious because of the drought. Worsening weather conditions in the north and north-east are making food deliveries increasingly difficult. The precarious security situation in some parts of Afghanistan continues to restrict access for humanitarian agencies. As a result there are pockets of unmet needs where vulnerable people cannot be reached. WFP and other humanitarian agencies are continuing to do their best to deliver life-saving assistance to those in need.

Afghanistan

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much food aid has been deployed in Afghanistan since 11 September 2001 utilising UK Government resources.

Clare Short: The lead agency for the provision of emergency food aid is the UN World Food Programme (WFP). In October 2001, WFP appealed for $257 million (approximately £185 million) to feed 7.5 million people for six months. They estimated that almost 500,000 metric tonnes of food (mainly wheat) would be required for this period.
	We have contributed £6 million towards WFP's operations inside Afghanistan—for both direct procurement and transportation of food, and for logistical support to help speed up the movement of food aid into the country. We have also supported a number of agencies—the UN, Red Cross and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)—for supplementary feeding and secondary distribution of food inside Afghanistan.

DFID Office (Kabul)

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the personnel appointed to her Department's Office in Kabul by (a) rank and (b) gender.

Clare Short: The DFID Kabul office consists of a Head of Office (male), two humanitarian advisers (one male, one female), one administrator (female), and 20 Afghan support staff (19 male, one female).

Central Africa

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what help the Government are giving to (a) the people of Goma and (b) the Governments of Congo and Rwanda.

Clare Short: During the present financial year we have committed over £10 million to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as providing practical and political support for the peace process and Inter-Congolese Dialogue. This support is channelled through United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Some £2 million of this has been provided in response to the needs of the people of Goma and the surrounding area in the wake of the Nyiragongo volcanic eruption. We are funding the UN, the British Red Cross Society and a number of other NGOs to provide emergency relief goods; water, sanitation and medical services support; and co-ordination of the overall relief response.
	DFID is the leading bilateral donor in Rwanda, providing £30 million in development assistance this financial year. We are committed to help Rwanda meet the International Development Targets (IDTs) within a sustainable economic and social framework that facilitates peace and security, reconciliation, economic growth and inclusive government.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to encourage participation by her Department in Fairtrade Fortnight from 4 to 17 March.

Clare Short: My Department is providing £120,000 to the Fairtrade Foundation over three years (2001–03) in support of its efforts to target new groups through its annual Fairtrade Fortnight campaigns. In addition, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State will be attending the launch of this year's campaign on 4 March 2002.

Global Health Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what further funds her Department will direct towards the Global Health Fund and from which part of her Department's budget.

Clare Short: The UK was one of the first donors to make a pledge to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria. DFID has committed £200 million over five years from its budget. As the fund gets up and running, we will closely monitor its effectiveness and the value it adds to the international effort against the three diseases, and review our contributions accordingly.

Global Health Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work her Department is undertaking to ensure the Global Health Fund meets its pledge to leverage additional financial resources.

Clare Short: The UK and others have worked hard to ensure that one of the criteria for assessing applications to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria (GFATM) will be the level of domestic Government, public sector and civil society commitment (both financial and political) to fighting the three diseases. This will be a strong in-built incentive for increased domestic health spending.
	The UK has also made clear that for the fund to realise its full potential, donors will need to increase spending on health through bilateral and multilateral channels in tandem with their fund contributions, not least to ensure that health systems are able to deliver the drugs and commodities the fund will finance. The UK has committed over £1 billion since 1997 to such health systems strengthening.

Global Health Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress was made at the first board meeting of the Global Health Fund in Geneva; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: The first board meeting of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria took place on 28–29 January. The fund was legally established as a foundation in Switzerland. The board approved a call for proposals and finalised a set of guidelines for their submission, which are designed to help potential recipient country partnerships apply for funding. The guidelines also explain the proposal review process. The fund is therefore on target to make its first decisions on disbursing resources to countries at the second board meeting, due to take place in the week beginning 22 April.

Great Lakes Region

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources are available to the Great Lakes region through the Africa conflict prevention pool.

Clare Short: Resolving the conflict in the Great Lakes region is a priority for the UK Government. In the current financial year 2001–02, £3.6 million has been allocated to support programmes in the Great Lakes region through the Africa pool. In addition to this, the UK contribution to United Nations peacekeeping in the region is forecast to be £27.3 million.
	In addition, DFID also contributes indirectly to conflict prevention through governance and humanitarian work.

Departmental Expenditure

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list her Department's total expenditure by month in each financial year since 1997–98.

Clare Short: The Department's spend by month since 1997–98 is:
	
		£ million 
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 April 70 49 159 76 177 
			 May 66 63 72 79 86 
			 June 50 152 122 118 200 
			 July 186 163 80 103 139 
			 August 71 112 112 149 105 
			 September 61 121 158 230 170 
			 October 140 117 101 111 195 
			 November 126 152 119 117 157 
			 December 133 145 161 518 361 
			 January 64 118 141 142 71 
			 February 177 116 163 146 — 
			 March(31) 438 462 611 396 — 
		
	
	(31) March expenditure includes moneys advanced earlier in the year and brought to account during April and May.
	Note:
	Figures rounded to the nearest £ million.

Departmental Secondments (Energy Industry)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff were seconded between (a) BP, (b) Shell, (c) Enron, (d) Exxon- Mobil, (e) Conoco, (f) Texaco and (g) TotalFinaElf and her Department in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) April 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available.

Clare Short: No staff have been seconded between DFID and these companies since 1999.

Tanzania

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Department of Trade and Industry, (b) the Ministry of Defence and (c) the Foreign Office concerning the advice given to the World Bank by the International Civil Aviation Organisation on 8 November on the Tanzanian air traffic control system.

Clare Short: When I received a copy of the letter of 8 November from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to the World Bank, I sent copies to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office. I have since had discussions and correspondence with these Departments on the content of the ICAO letter.
	The Government of Tanzania are working with the ICAO during their follow-up visit to Tanzania this week, to address the issues of technical applicability and value for money of the proposed air traffic control system for Tanzania.

Tanzania

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will place a copy of the letter dated 8 November 2001 from the International Civil Aviation Organisation to the World Bank concerning the Tanzanian air traffic control radar project in the Library.

Clare Short: I will place in the Library of the House a copy of the letter of 8 November 2001 from the International Civil Aviation Organisation to the World bank regarding the proposed air traffic control system for Tanzania.

Zambia

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action her Department is taking to divert resources into free primary education in Zambia to assist poor parents with the cost of schooling.

Clare Short: We are participating in the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (BESSIP) launched in mid-1999. Its main targets are to ensure that all children of school-going age have access to primary education in 2005, and to reduce the costs to parents.
	The Ministry of Education is developing this experience with our support into a five-year sector-wide strategic plan, based on Zambia's poverty reduction strategy. It is intended that the plan will be co-financed by the Zambian Government in partnership with the private sector, churches, civil society and donors. Education is a priority use of additional funds released through debt relief under HIPC.

Ghana

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made on the education fees charged to rural families in Ghana.

Clare Short: The Government are committed to the principle that primary education should be free. We are supporting the Government of Ghana's policy to deliver all Ghanaian children free, good quality basic education by 2005 through our education sector support programme. This amounts to £50 million over five years and helps to help achieve improved primary education outcomes through working in partnership with the Ministry of Education and other donors. Our assistance is also closely aligned with the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, which includes a commitment to enforce the regulations on illegal school fees in primary schools.

Theft and Fraud

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what additional security measures are planned by her Department to deter and detect theft and fraud.

Clare Short: We are constantly monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of our security arrangements. As part of the refurbishment of my Department's new building in London, we have installed new access control equipment, including security pillars and card readers which operate on the presentation of a valid security pass. Asset-control tagging of valuable and attractive DFID equipment has also been introduced. We propose to extend these systems to our other UK buildings.
	The Internal Audit Department are due to review internal guidance for handling fraud and study individual cases to detect systems weaknesses and identify areas for improvement. Our corporate governance procedures require heads of department to confirm that they have identified all instances of fraud in their area of responsibility and have taken appropriate action.

Overseas Service Aid Scheme

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what figures are held on the number of people recruited to the Overseas Service Aid scheme who had children born overseas while they served on this scheme; and how many people hold British citizenship by descent as a result of being born abroad while their parents were serving on this scheme.

Clare Short: The Department does not maintain these figures on the Overseas Service Aid Scheme which has been run down over a number of years.
	It is highly unlikely that the information on British citizenship by descent was ever held in any systematic way. Any attempt to determine the figures, therefore, could only be at disproportionate cost to the Department.

HEALTH

Food Standards Agency

Christine Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Food Standards Agency annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001 will be published.

Yvette Cooper: The Food Standards Agency's annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001, was laid before Parliament today. Copies are available in the Library of the House. A version in Welsh as required by the Welsh Language Act 1993 is in preparation and will be published shortly.

Young Mothers

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were born to women under the age of 18 years, per year, between 1990 and 2001 (a) in the UK and (b) in Bassetlaw.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to John Mann, dated 5 February 2002
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on how many children were born per year since 1990, to women under the age of 18 years in the UK and in Bassetlaw. (33510)
	Figures for 1990 to 2000 are given in the table below. Data for 2001 are not yet available.
	
		Live births to women under the age of 18 years, 1990–2000
		
			  (a) UK(32) (b) Bassetlaw(33) 
		
		
			 1990 17,996 34 
			 1991 17,215 37 
			 1992 16,141 26 
			 1993 15,806 22 
			 1994 14,648 35 
			 1995 15,401 24 
			 1996 17,698 42 
			 1997 18,213 53 
			 1998 18,063 36 
			 1999 17,200 30 
			 2000 16,206 31 
		
	
	(32) Includes births registered in England, Wales and Scotland to non-residents of the country in which the birth was registered. Births to non-resident mothers in Northern Ireland are excluded from these figures.
	(33) To women resident in Bassetlaw.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Public Service Agreements

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the Public Service Agreement target of efficiency and other value for money gains in the NHS equivalent to 3 per cent. per annum of health authority unified allocations.

John Hutton: Allocations to health authorities are based on an overall assessment of the resources required to cover inflationary pressures and deliver national targets. Allocations to health authorities in 1999–2000 and 2000–01 were made net of 3 per cent. efficiency savings. This means that health authorities needed to achieve the efficiency target to fully fund delivery of national targets and inflation.
	A new Public Service Agreement target for value for money was agreed as part of Spending Review 2000:
	The cost of care commissioned from trusts which perform well against indicators of fair access, quality and responsiveness, will become the benchmark for the NHS. Everyone will be expected to reach the level of the best over the next five years, with agreed milestones for 2003–04.
	The aim of this new target is to ensure that cost-savings are not at the expense of service quality. The year 2001–02 is the first year covered by this new Public Service Agreement target. We will be monitoring progress against this new target as data become available.

NHS Prescriptions

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the fee paid to community pharmacists for dispensing NHS prescriptions.

Hazel Blears: Remuneration paid to community pharmacies is intended to reward them for the national health service pharmaceutical services they provide. The total remuneration to be paid for services in any given year is known as the global sum. The global sum is distributed through a system of fees and allowances, some of which relate directly to the number (and type) of prescriptions dispensed, some of which do not. For 2001–02 the global sum for England and Wales is £806.6 million, an increase of 3.7 per cent. over 2000–01.
	The fees paid to community pharmacies for dispensing NHS prescriptions vary according to the item prescribed. The large majority of prescriptions attract the basic dispensing fee, the current rate for which is 87.4 pence per item.

Bioaerosols

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the effect of the inhalation of bioaerosols on human health.

Yvette Cooper: The health effects of bioaerosol inhalation depend upon the type of biological material contained in the aerosol, its pathogenicity and virulence, the quantity inhaled and the susceptibility of the individual who inhales the aerosol. Health effects from the inhalation of a bioaerosol range from none to very serious, often fatal, disease. It is not possible to detail all the potential health effects of bioaerosol inhalation within the scope of this answer, as there are many pathogens that can be transmitted through the bioaerosol route. There are also non-pathogenic bioaerosols that can have adverse health effects varying from mild allergic reactions to acute asthma attacks.
	While the health effects of many specific pathogenic microbial bioaerosols, such as those containing Anthrax spores, Legionella bacteria or Aspergillus fungal spores, are well known, the health response to non-specific diverse bioaerosols is less well understood. For these bioaerosols, such as those produced during harvesting or composting, which contain a mixture of micro-organisms in combination with organic and inorganic particles. The nature of the human response varies greatly and can also change as a result of sensitisation due to repeat exposure to the bioaerosol. For such bioaerosols there has been no detailed study undertaken into the associated health effects.
	Consideration of the health effects of bioaerosols inhalation falls to a number of bodies within us.
	The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) advises Health and Agriculture Ministers and the Health and Safety Commission on the health risks to workers and the public from dangerous pathogens, including bioaerosol risks. The ACDP assesses risks and advises on the containment measures and precautions to be taken to minimise the risk of exposure to dangerous pathogens. The Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999 cover occupational exposure to bioaerosols. These place obligations upon employers to prevent, or minimise, the risk of exposure to harmful bioaerosols.
	The Environment Agency are funding a range of research projects to evaluate the wider health effects of bioaerosols such as those that arise from incineration or composting of waste.
	Inhaled bioaerosols containing naturally occurring pathogens can pose a particular threat to patients in hospitals. Specific environmental and general control strategies have been put in place to prevent exposure to this bioaerosol risk in hospitals through National Health Service Estates.

Parliamentary Questions

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many (a) named day written questions and (b) ordinary written questions to his Department tabled before 30 November 2001 have yet to receive a substantive reply;
	(2)  what the tabling date was of the earliest written question to his Department which is still awaiting a substantive reply.

Hazel Blears: Our records show that 25 ordinary written questions and 16 named day questions tabled before 30 November 2001 have yet to receive a substantive reply.
	The earliest tabling date was 18 October.

Parliamentary Questions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason he has not replied to the written question on stroke research ref. 14028, from the hon. Member for Coventry, South.

Jacqui Smith: I replied to my hon. Friend on 1 February.

Parliamentary Questions

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will state (a) the reasons why he has not replied to question 19322 tabled by the hon. Member for Aylesbury on 26 November 2001 and (b) when he intends to provide a reply.

Hazel Blears: I replied to the hon. Member today. I am sorry that the hon. Member did not get an earlier substantive reply; this was due to an administrative error within the Department.

Out-patient Treatment

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list in (a) rank and (b) alphabetical order of NHS trust, by NHS region, the (i) proportion and (ii) numbers of patients waiting (A) over 12 and (B) over 18 months or more for out-patient treatment (1) at the latest available date, (2) in March 1997 and (3) in June 1997.

John Hutton: Data are only collected on the number of patients waiting over six months for a first out-patient appointment. Beyond this time period, data are not broken down into those patients waiting over 12 or 18 months.

Diabetes

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from Leicester University hospitals about the timescale for delivering a diabetes national service framework; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: To date, we have received seven letters from local hon. Members enclosing a letter from a consultant at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust about the delayed implementation of the diabetes national service framework.

Digital Hearing Aids

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have (a) been tested for digital hearing aids and (b) had them fitted under the NHS in (i) England and (ii) Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency.

Jacqui Smith: By the end of December 2001, 19,353 adult patients had been assessed for digital hearing aids and 14,856 adult patients had been fitted by the 20 trusts involved in the pilot project. There are currently no pilot sites in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency.
	I announced on 24 December 2001 that a further £20 million would be made available in 2002–03 so that a further 30 NHS sites can join the modernising hearing aids project during that year. Decisions on which sites will become involved in the project from April will be made shortly.

Critical Care Beds

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many funded critical care beds were closed in (a) each health authority area and (b) England at the latest available date.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 29 November 2001
	The number of funded critical care beds that were closed in each health authority is not collected.
	The latest published figures showed that there were 3,011 available adult critical care beds in national health service trusts in England at midnight on the 29 November 2001. Details are available along with the results of the census of general and acute beds that was carried out as at midnight on Thursday 29 November 2001.

Elderly Patients (Emergency Re-admissions)

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the level of emergency readmissions of elderly patients for each quarter of the last five years.

John Hutton: The table shows the rate of emergency re-admission within 28 days for people aged 75 and over.
	
		
			 Quarter Percentage(34) 
		
		
			 1996–97  
			 Q1 6.7 
			 Q2 6.6 
			 Q3 6.8 
			 Q4 7.0 
			 1997–98  
			 Q1 7.2 
			 Q2 6.7 
			 Q3 8.0 
			 Q4 8.2 
			 1999–2000  
			 Q1 7.7 
			 Q2 7.3 
			 Q3 7.2 
			 Q4 7.6 
			 2000–01  
			 Q1 7.4 
			 Q2 7.1 
			 Q3 7.3 
			 Q4 7.7 
			 2001–02  
			 Q1 7.3 
			 Q2 7.1 
		
	
	(34) Percentage of people aged 75 and over re-admitted as an emergency within 28 days of discharge from hospital.

Mental Health

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will inquire of the NHS acute trusts in London in order to ascertain the occupancy rate of beds in acute mental health wards in each London hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 13 December 2001
	The latest data available are for 2000–01 and are shown in the table.
	The data are collected annually at national health service trust level, rather than by individual hospital site.
	
		
			 Trust(35) Available beds Occupied beds Occupancy rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 2000–01
			 Barnet Community Health Care NHS Trust 207 187 90.5 
			 BHB Community Health NHS Trust 245 223 91.3 
			 Brent, Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Mental Health NHS Trust 732 621 84.8 
			 Camden and Islington Community Health Service NHS Trust 358 352 98.2 
			 Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health NHS Trust 567 543 95.8 
			 East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust 514 480 93.4 
			 Enfield Community Care NHS Trust 262 244 93.1 
			 Forest Healthcare NHS Trust 213 190 89.0 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 8 6 77.1 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 72 65 90.4 
			 Haringey Healthcare NHS Trust 240 235 98.1 
			 Harrow and Hillingdon Health Care NHS Trust 83 81 97.7 
			 Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 116 109 93.9 
			 Hounslow and Spelthorne Community and Mental Health NHS Trust 164 162 98.8 
			 Kingston and District Community NHS Trust 308 289 94.0 
			 Oxleas NHS Trust 391 354 90.7 
			 Redbridge Health Care NHS Trust 245 203 83.2 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 122 114 93.4 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 947 916 96.7 
			 South West London and St. Georges Mental Health NHS Trust 595 541 90.9 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Trust 13 10 75.2 
		
	
	(35) Pre-April 2001 trust configurations

Mental Health

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what proportion of (a) men and (b) women aged over 65 years have clinical depression;
	(2)  what proportion of (a) men and (b) women aged over 65 years with clinical depression live (i) alone, (ii) alone in private households and (iii) in residential care.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 8 January 2002
	The information requested is not available centrally.
	It is estimated that around 10–15 per cent. of the population aged 65 and over have depression. More severe states of depression affect about 3–5 per cent. of older people.
	The recent Office for National Statistics report "Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households, 2000" contains information about the prevalence of mental disorders among adults in private households.

Mental Health

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the UK have dementia; and how many of them are (a) over and (b) under 65 years.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 8 January 2002
	The information requested is not available centrally. The 1998 Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study estimated that around 600,000 people in the United Kingdom suffer from dementia, including around 17,000 people under the age of 65.

"Winning the Generation Game"

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out for each of the conclusions in section 6.4 of the Performance and Innovation Unit report, "Winning the Generation Game", (a) what progress his Department has made and (b) what future plans his Department has for acting on them; and if he will set out against each of the conclusions the targets and deadlines that have been set.

Hazel Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 19 December 2001, Official Report, column 335W.

Alzheimer's Disease

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) men and (b) women in England suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 8 January 2002
	This information is not routinely collected. The 1998 Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study estimated that about 600,000 people in the United Kingdom have dementia. Alzheimer's disease causes up to 60 per cent. of cases of dementia.
	The only available statistical returns are for hospital admissions. The number of admissions in England, by sex, for Alzheimer's disease in 2000–01 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Male 1,984 
			 Female 3,538 
			 Sex not known 41 
			  
			 Total 5,563

NHS Direct

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average time taken to answer NHS Direct's telephones (a) at weekends, (b) between 6 pm and 11 pm, (c) between 11 pm and 6 am and (d) during daytime office hours in the last 12 months.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 8 January 2002
	It is not currently possible to provide the information on average time taken to answer NHS Direct calls as requested. However, the average time it takes for NHS Direct to answer the telephone is approximately 30 seconds after the confidentiality message finishes.

NHS Direct

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls NHS Direct received in each of the last six months.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 8 January 2002
	The information on the number of calls to NHS Direct for each of the last six months is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Month/year Total calls 
		
		
			 2001  
			 June 401,000 
			 July 409,000 
			 August 398,000 
			 September 369,000 
			 October 427,000 
			 November 416,000 
			 December 511,000  
		
	
	Source:
	NHS Direct sites

St. John Ambulance Volunteers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times in 2001 St. John Ambulance volunteers carried out duties normally the responsibility of London ambulance service personnel.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 8 January 2002
	Figures are not held centrally for the number of times the London ambulance service have called upon the individual services of St. John Ambulance.

Head Injuries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to increase support and training for head injury survivors.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 9 January 2002
	We are keen to help ensure that all disabled people, including those with head injury, are able to play a full part in society. One important way of doing this is by helping people return to work whenever possible. Currently local authorities are taking the lead on Joint Investment Plans on Welfare to Work for disabled people initiative. The idea of these plans is to provide effective and joined up services for disabled people who want to work, to stay in work, or to move closer to the world of work.

Head Injuries

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to compile up-to-date epidemiological data on the extent and severity of traumatic brain injury.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 9 January 2002
	There are no plans to extend our data collection. We already collect data on the number, extent and severity of traumatic brain injury, as shown in the table, which has data for the last five years. Around one million people a year receive a head injury in the United Kingdom, and over 100,000 of those attend hospital.
	
		Finished consultant episodes (FCEs) by main diagnosis NHS hospitals, England 1995–96 to 2000–01
		
			 S00—S09 Injuries to the head 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 
		
		
			 S00 Superficial injury of head 9,731 10,829 11,000 10,875 12,293 11,379 
			 S01 Open wound of head 20,180 23,186 23,824 23,668 27,184 25,883 
			 S02 Fracture of skull and facial bones 29,839 31,419 30,265 27,837 30,825 28,318 
			 S03 Dislocation sprain and strain of joints and ligaments of head 317 381 367 410 349 314 
			 S04 Injury of cranial nerves 78 63 94 96 106 68 
			 S05 Injury of eye and orbit 3,655 3,503 3,320 3,255 3,591 3,230 
			 S06 Intracranial injury 23,226 20,036 16,529 11,942 12,790 11,892 
			 S07 Crushing injury of head 30 16 11 19 16 5 
			 S08 Traumatic amputation of part of head 127 116 102 111 123 123 
			 S09 Other and unspecified injuries of head 40,912 42,193 41,102 40,163 43,271 39,175 
			 Total 128,096 131,742 126,615 118,376 130,548 120,387 
		
	
	Note:
	A Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year. Data for 1995–96 to 1997–98 are adjusted for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data. 1998–99 to 2000–01 data are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.

Hospital Management

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria will be used to assess the need for franchised management of persistently failing hospitals.

John Hutton: If a national health service body is not performing one or more of its functions adequately or at all, or there are significant failings in the way the trust is being run, the Secretary of State for Health has the powers, under section 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, to intervene.
	In the case of trusts that have recently received a zero star performance rating they are required to provide an action plan, agreed with the Department, to address the particular areas of performance which they need to improve. Franchise arrangements will be considered only if these trusts fail to make progress against their action plan.

GPs

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to attract back retired general practitioners to work in the medical profession; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: We are committed to increasing general practitioner numbers in line with the NHS Plan target for at least an extra 2,000 by 2004. To deliver this we are, in consultation with the profession and others, exploring and implementing change to make general practice more attractive.
	These changes already include increasing the number of training places, recruiting from overseas, providing additional training and support for new GPs; improving GPs' working lives by reducing bureaucracy and introducing family friendly packages; giving better support by providing better information technology, better buildings and different ways of working; developing flexible career options; and offering cash incentives to new GPs or returning GP retainees. These measures are intended to attract new GPs, to retain those now practising, and to encourage the return of those who are qualified but not currently working in general practice.

Primary Care Trusts

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he has used in the evaluation of primary care groups in their applications to become primary care trusts; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Primary care trusts are established after full and open consultation locally. Each application to establish a PCT is assessed against the nationally published criteria for assessment contained in Health Service Circular 1999/167. Applications must demonstrate:
	The benefits of what will be achieved
	The degree of support for the proposal
	The 'fitness' of the proposed organisation to deliver
	The impact on other organisations.

Mobile Phones

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his definition is of other sensitive sites referred to in the Stewart report on "Mobile Phones and Health"; and whether this includes sites directly on top of homes.

Hazel Blears: In May 2000, the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP), chaired by Sir William Stewart, issued a report on "Mobile Phones and Health". This report included a number of recommendations designed to provide more information to people about base stations in their area. It included a recommendation that there should be an independent random on-going audit of all base stations to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded outside the marked exclusion zones and that the base stations comply with their agreed specifications. The group said that particular attention should be paid initially to the auditing of base stations near to schools and other sensitive sites. The group was particularly concerned about schools, as at open meetings held by the group around the country, concern had been expressed about the potential exposure of children in schools and this was seen as a sensitive issue. The group was not specific about other sensitive sites. There was no specific concern about homes directly underneath base stations as the radio signals are generally directed to the horizon and not downwards.
	The IEGMP was also concerned about possible interference caused by the use of mobile phones in hospitals and other sites where the radio frequency radiation could possibly interfere with sensitive equipment. They, therefore, made a recommendation that health authorities/health boards should issue guidance on the use of mobile phones and should ensure that all hospitals comply. This guidance includes the placing of visible warning signs at entrances to buildings to indicate that mobile phones should be switched off. In addition, health care establishments have liaised carefully with mobile phone organisations to ensure that any risk is negligible to patients and staff when considering the location of base stations on their premises.

Mortality Rates

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out for each NHS (a) region, (b) health authority and (c) trust the mortality rate (i) in hospital and (ii) within 30 days of discharge of people aged 75 and over in each quarter in the last four years, giving (A) the actual number and (B) the proportion of the total of those aged 75 and over admitted in each case.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 31 January 2002
	The information requested is shown in the tables.
	The mortality rate in hospital for patients aged over 75 is only available at national, regional and health authority level. (Table 1—regional rate and table 2—health authority rate).
	The mortality rate within 30 days of discharge for patients aged 75 and over is available only at national level (table 3).
	
		Hospital episode statistics: Discharge episodes aged 75 and over with death rates by regional office of treatment: NHS hospital trusts in England 2000–01
		
			   Discharged Total Death rate 
			 Regional office Live Death number discharged (percentage) 
		
		
			 Northern and Yorkshire regional 247,466 21,057 268,523 7.8 
			 Trent regional office 198,438 17,330 215,768 8.0 
			 West midlands regional office 185,538 17,812 203,350 8.8 
			 North-west regional office 266,002 22,366 288,368 7.8 
			 Eastern regional office 201,050 17,659 218,709 8.1 
			 London regional office 213,809 21,605 235,414 9.2 
			 South-east regional office 278,148 26,701 304,849 8.8 
			 South-west regional office 225,356 18,159 243,515 7.5 
			  
			 Total 1,815,807 162,689 1,978,496 8.2 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health
	
		Hospital episode statistics: Discharge episodes aged 75 and over with death rates by health authority of treatment, England 2000–01
		
			Discharged Total Death rate 
			  Health authority Live Death number discharged (percentage) 
		
		
			 QA2 Hillingdon HA 5,602 710 6,312 11 
			 QA3 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA 17,696 1,170 18,866 6 
			 QA4 Enfield and Haringey HA 6,199 976 7,175 14 
			 QA5 Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA 16,522 1,972 18,494 11 
			 QA6 Bedfordshire HA 14,509 1,296 15,805 8 
			 QA7 Berkshire HA 21,828 2,370 24,198 10 
			 QA8 Buckinghamshire HA 16,144 1,577 17,721 9 
			 QAA Bexley and Greenwich HA 11,626 1,412 13,038 11 
			 QAC Bromley HA 9,755 881 10,636 8 
			 QAD Croydon HA 7,141 841 7,982 11 
			 QAE East Kent HA 24,630 2,526 27,156 9 
			 QAF West Kent HA 27,773 3,191 30,964 10 
			 QAG Kingston and Richmond HA 10,261 1,120 11,381 10 
			 QAH Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA 20,026 1,888 21,914 9 
			 QAJ Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA 20,732 2,226 22,958 10 
			 QAK East Surrey HA 210 18 228 8 
			 QAL West Surrey HA 21,790 2,156 23,946 9 
			 QAM East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA 31,561 2,789 34,350 8 
			 QAN West Sussex HA 37,532 3,412 40,944 8 
			 QAP Barking and Havering HA 13,197 1,515 14,712 10 
			 QAQ Barnet HA 12,654 1,438 14,092 10 
			 QAR Brent and Harrow HA 9,329 722 10,051 7 
			 QAT Camden and Islington HAS 24,016 1,483 25,499 6 
			 QAV Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA 15,234 1,757 16,991 10 
			 QAW East London and The City HA 13,819 1,494 15,313 10 
			 QAX North Essex HA 28,385 3,138 31,523 10 
			 QAY South Essex HA 23,575 2,426 26,001 9 
			 QC1 South Lancashire HA 5,312 462 5,774 8 
			 QC2 Liverpool HA 16,559 1,140 17,699 6 
			 QC3 Manchester HA 29,300 1,974 31,274 6 
			 QC4 Morcambe Bay HA 14,022 1,287 15,309 8 
			 QC5 St. Helens and Knowsley HA 10,171 1,041 11,212 9 
			 QC6 Salford and Trafford HA 13,526 1,259 14,785 9 
			 QC7 Sefton HA 20,779 1,776 22,555 8 
			 QC8 QC8 Stockport HA 11,801 1,006 12,807 8 
			 QC9 West Pennine HA 16,935 1,546 18,481 8 
			 QCC Northamptonshire HA 17,419 1,615 19,034 8 
			 QCE Oxfordshire HA 18,907 4,659 20,566 8 
			 QCF Suffolk HA 23,106 2,189 25,295 9 
			 QCG Barnsley HA 8,086 778 8,864 9 
			 QCH North Derbyshire HA 13,020 1,105 14,125 / 
			 QCJ Southern Derbyshire HA 20,738 1,550 22,288 7 
			 QCK Doncaster HA 13,781 1,071 14,852 7 
			 QCL Leicestershire HA 27,738 2,383 30,121 8 
			 QCM Lincolnshire HA 21,548 2,236 23,784 9 
			 QCN North Nottinghamshire HA 17,233 1,650 18,883 9 
			 QCP Nottingham HA 27,675 2,450 30,125 8 
			 QCQ Rotherham HA 8,323 821 9,144 9 
			 QCR Sheffield HA 26,214 2,130 28,344 8 
			 QCT Bury and Rochdale HA 11,143 1,127 12,270 9 
			 QCV North Cheshire HA 11,273 1,034 12,307 8 
			 QCW South Cheshire HA 20,213 1,884 22,097 9 
			 QCX East Lancashire HA 18,782 1,450 20,232 7 
			 QCY North West Lancashire HA 31,735 1,914 33,649 6 
			 QD1 North and Mid Hampshire HA 13,281 1,119 14,400 8 
			 QD2 Portsmouth and South East Hampshire HA 23,407 2,039 25,446 8 
			 QD3 Southampton and South West Hampshire HA 19,487 1,681 21,168 8 
			 QD4 Isle of Wight HA 4,179 549 4,728 12 
			 QD5 Somerset HA 18,688 1,556 20,244 8 
			 QD6 South and West Devon HA 28,871 2,227 31,098 7 
			 QD7 Wiltshire HA 17,097 1,770 18,867 9 
			 QD8 Avon HA 47,221 3,899 51,120 8 
			 QD9 Birmingham HA 45,941 4,288 50,229 9 
			 QD1 Wigan and Bolton HA 19,071 1,988 21,059 9 
			 QDC Wirral HA 15,380 1,478 16,858 9 
			 QDD Bradford HA 20,381 1,563 21,944 7 
			 QDE County Durham HA 17,109 1,498 18,607 8 
			 QDF East Riding HA 17,181 1,461 18,642 8 
			 QDG Gateshead and South Tyneside HA 12,451 1,323 13,774 10 
			 QDH Leeds HA 28,376 2,284 30,660 7 
			 QDK Newcastle and North Tyneside HA 24,365 1,430 25,795 6 
			 QDK North Cumbria HA 11,960 1,086 13,046 8 
			 QDL South Humber HA 14,082 1,156 15,238 8 
			 QDM Northumberland HA 17,031 1,638 18,669 9 
			 QDN Sunderland HA 13,949 1,192 15,141 8 
			 QDP Tees HA 22,906 1,916 24,822 8 
			 QDQ Wakefield HA 12,655 1,111 13,766 8 
			 QDR North Yorkshire HA 29,737 2,762 32,499 8 
			 QDT Calderdale and Kirklees HA 19,365 1,793 21,158 8 
			 QDV Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA 19,636 1,506 21,142 7 
			 QDW Dorset HA 44,830 3,358 48,188 7 
			 QDX North and East Devon HA 26,547 1,888 28,435 7 
			 QDY Gloucestershire HA 22,466 1,955 24,421 8 
			 QEA Coventry HA 13,579 1,440 15,019 10 
			 QEC Dudley HA 10,272 1,115 11,387 10 
			 QED Herefordshire HA 7,598 596 8,194 7 
			 QEE Sandwell HA 7,852 856 8,438 10 
			 QEF Shropshire HA 16,038 1,242 17,280 7 
			 QEG Solihull HA 155 12 167 7 
			 QEH North Staffordshire HA 20,646 1,710 22,356 8 
			 QEJ South Staffordshire HA 15,019 1,411 16,430 9 
			 QEK Walsall HA 6,123 989 7,112 14 
			 QEL Warwickshire HA 14,326 1,446 15,772 9 
			 QEM Wolverhampton HA 11,986 1,040 13,026 8 
			 QEN Worcestershire HA 16,273 1,667 17,940 9 
			 QEP East and North Hertfordshire HA 14,465 1,393 15,858 9 
			 QEQ West Hertfordshire HA 14,095 1,254 15,349 8 
			 QER Cambridge HA 27,959 2,384 30,343 8 
			 QET Norfolk HA 54,956 3,579 58,535 6 
			 Total  1,815,807 162,689 1,978,496 8 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health
	
		Deaths in hospital within 30 days of surgery
		
			 England Number of patients(36) with operations Number of deaths Percentage who died 
		
		
			  Emergency admissions: 
			 1997–98 120,500 12,400 10.26 
			 1998–99 136,000 14,600 10.71 
			 
			  Non-emergency admissions: 
			 1997–98 204,200 2,800 1.38 
			 1998–99 224,400 3,200 1.41 
		
	
	(36) Aged 75 and over
	Notes:
	1. Rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. "Surgery" includes many medical interventions and is consistent with definitions used in Clinical Indicators.
	Source:
	NHS Performance Indicators, Department of Health, July 2000, ad hoc analysis

Lister Hospital

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the accident and emergency department at the Lister hospital.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 1 February 2002
	The Hertfordshire and south Bedfordshire acute services review aims to explore the best way to provide local people with much better acute services and to meet NHS plan targets for modernising and improving patient services over the next 10 years.
	The proposals have not progressed as far as to put forward specific recommendations for accident and emergency departments and the review will continue with ongoing work.

Primary Care Groups

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what instructions he has given to health authorities on the distribution of funding to (a) primary care groups and (b) primary care trusts for 2002–03; and what arrangements he is putting in place for the funding of primary care trusts from 2003 onwards.

John Hutton: Health Service Circular 1998/171 set out the principles for health authorities to follow in setting primary care group and primary care trust allocations. For 2002–03 these principles continue to apply but are supplemented by additional guidance set out in HSC 2001/34, "Health Authority Revenue Resource Limits 2002–03". Copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.
	From 2003–04, the intention is that allocations will be made direct to primary care trusts. This is subject to the passage of legislation through Parliament. Allocations will continue to be based on the principle of weighted capitation.

Epsom Hospital

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which postcodes are included in the catchment area for Epsom hospital's maternity unit; and how many patients came from each of those postcode areas in the last year for which information is available.

John Hutton: For the year 2000–01 the following information was collected:
	
		
			 Postcodes within catchment area Delivery episodes 
		
		
			 CR5 20 
			 KT11 85 
			 KT17 199 
			 KT18 171 
			 KT19 329 
			 KT20 172 
			 KT21 107 
			 KT22 208 
			 KT23 60 
			 KT4 103 
			 SM2 46 
			 SM7 142 
			 Other postcodes (outside defined catchment) 249 
			  
			 Total 1,891 
		
	
	Note:
	Postcodes listed fall wholly or partly within the catchment area, which is defined as that area for which Epsom general hospital was the designated district hospital prior to becoming a trust hospital in 1991.